It’s me again! You know I was only supposed to be editing and trying to make the website look better for you guys tonight but I kept on being distracted, chiefly because I really want to re-watch The Good, the Bad and the Ugly later and couldn’t concentrate properly on actually editing and making the website look better for you guys. Just the thought of spending 177 delicious minutes with Eastwood, Van Cleef and the Latino Santa Claus Eli Wallach got me all hot and bothered inside (I turned the heater down and felt better).
This lack of focus meant that I kept on procrastinating and watching random videos of Chinese pranks instead:
So I just left that task and found a task where I could focus on – mastur… no no I mean, writing!
But give me a break will ya! I was refereeing at a football tournament for 7 hours today with no food, water or human decency, SURELY I deserve a break.
Well yes and no. You see, this is one of life’s biggest fallacies.
Think back to the last week of work, when you crunched through that 60 hour week when… WAIT what’s that? You only work 9-5? My maths is all wrong you say? Well what about all those times from the hours of 7-9am preparing, travelling and arriving for work and then 5-7pm when you leave, travel and finally get home? Isn’t that a 12 hour work day? What if your employer requires you to work outside the 9-5, the day is even longer!
Point being you arrive home, you eat dinner and before long its 8pm and Netflix and Chill. Almost time to hit the sack and repeat for tomorrow!
Where in this work day do you have time to pursue your own projects? When are you DOING ME? Even if you have time to, chances are you are too exhausted to really FOCUS. Here, do you remember saying these to yourself?
YES I WANT TO START MY OWN BUSINESS, but you know, I just don’t have the time.
YES I WANT TO DEVELOP BETTER NETWORKS, but you know, I’m just too tired.
YES I WANT TO HAVE SEX WITH AS MANY WOMEN AS POSSIBLE, but you know, I’m a closet homosexual.
Life is hard.
“Yes, well fuck you TheFrugalSamurai, I work hard and have a high paying job, if I want to come home and Netflix and chill it’s none of your Goddamn business.”
Take it easy there cowboy, you see I’m not saying how you are acting is wrong, I’m saying the excuses you make are extremely VALID.
How hard is it to focus after a long work day to really get started on your side hustle? VERY. How hard is it to focus when you are fully wired to social media and personal emails? HARD. Even right now, I just want to get this damn post over and done with so I can lose myself in the music, the moment you own it, you better never let it go, you only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow. Oh dear, lost it already.
HOWEVER, there is light at the end of the tunnel, just like how I had a stretch goal for tonight to edit the website and ended up writing a post which took 8 times as long (more like 9.5 but who’s counting), I’ve realized that instead of watching Chinese pranks, I can pick a LOWER hanging fruit which my brain can FOCUS on and write a blog post (wait, am I the only guy to realize what I just said?).
You can do the same – instead of Netflix and Chill, pick a lower hanging fruit – what about ironing your clothes, and THEN Netflix and Chill? You don’t need too much time or energy to iron your clothes surely? You ticked off a chore, you get to watch the latest House of Cards, you get to relax and scheme and plot and conspire after. Apparently you also get to have sex, which can’t be a bad thing last time I checked. Win win win. High fives and butt slaps all round.
Next time you find yourself setting a goal which you lose focus on. (Wait, should it be losing focus on a goal you have set? Cmon man focus!). Go with it, realize life is hard and gets in our way like, like, like that guy who blocks the escalators when you’re in a hurry (I hate that guy SO much) and pick something easy and simple to do which barely makes it into the “productivity” category.
You’d be amazed at the end of the week of all these little mindless tasks which you have chipped away at during your moments of lost focus. It saves you being distracted when you really turn it on with your passion.
Enjoy your weekend everyone! I’m off to enjoy this in all its splendour:
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