Productive Day, But Bloodshot Eyes. Productivity vs Sustainability
Tags: motivation, productivity, health
Published: 2024-03-24 09:24:17

## Intro
Recently I've been honing in on my productivity, and I've been doing really well, however, I looked in my mirror recently, and my eyes weren't exactly white.

_How did we get here?_

## Naming Your Passions
Before we fix my eyes, let's figure out how to be more productive.

I have two main sections of my life.
1. Coding
2. Guitar
I have more to life, but these are my _passions_ things I spend time doing often to get better at.

**List Your Passions**

They could be anything, depending on what you enjoy doing, and what you want to be doing for the rest of your life.

Now we're going to put our effort into these passions. I would suggest having more than one passion (unless you're _really_ passionate). Why would I suggest 2? For me, when I lose interest in one, the other one picks up. In this way, I'm always dedicated to something that I'm happy and productive in, rather than watching videos all day.

## Less Procrastination
Now I know that if you're reading this, you probably get more than the average screen time, but what's worse is that most of that screen time isn't productive. Turns out, it wasn't that hard to stop watching videos, and use my screen time for more productive things.

**Plan Your Day**

Now, I know, "L Take," but hear me out. Once I started scheduling, I instantly stopped watching stupid videos that gave me nothing. A common mistake is also to overschedule, but this can hurt you even more if you're not careful, and makes it easy to fall into burnout (as I almost did).
So, after waking, I'll get on my laptop, and write out my day.

8-9 CompNerdSim
9-10 Pogo
10-10:30 Guitar
10:30-11:30 Cosplore3D
11:30-12:30 Study/Homework on Networks
12:30-1 Lunch
1-2 CompNerdSim
2-8 Uni
8-8:30 Tea (Dinner)
8:30-9 Guitar
9-10 Pogo
Bed

Now I know you're already confused but hear me out. Firstly, notice how specific I am. I don't say "code," I say "[CompNerdSim](https://chigbeef.itch.io/compnerdsim)." This is on purpose, because if I just have "code" written down, then you'll have too much choice, and when you have too much choice, you procrastinate. I also don't say exactly what I'm going to do, for example, I say "CompNerdSim", rather than "fix this bug in CompNerdSim and add this feature." I can't judge how long that will take, so I would be a fool to try too hard.
The point is that I'm saying "I'm spending 'x' time on this project," and usually, this means I'll spend 'x' time on it, a good amount of work.
Time slots are variable, I've started moving into an hour and a half time slots if I have time, to maintain a good flow state. Don't be too specific on the time, you're almost always going to be over or under, so don't even try.
I know what you're thinking, 10pm bed time? This was what I figured out personally, after 10pm there wasn't a real reason to stay up any late. I wasn't as productive after 10pm, and it would almost definitely make me tired the next day (slightly, depending on how long after 10). My point here is that if you're not being productive at the end of the day, sometimes it's better to literally go to sleep.
Lastly, your schedule will change. Whether it's because you're in great flow, so project 2 loses time by you working on project 1, or maybe you make last minute plans with friends. If you're actually becoming more productive, you'll have more time to be doing extra things like that.

## Living Like This
Now that was a lot, I know, but does it actually _work_??
I started living like this since the start of March, and it's been great! I'm getting good sleep, I'm productive, I _feel_ productive. I even [learned Neovim in a weekend](https://dev.to/chigbeef_77/i-learned-neovim-in-a-weekend-47pf), because I had the extra time.

But there was one issue, I was being really productive _on a screen_. I would wake up, get right on my laptop to schedule my day, obviously you see the issue? Well I definitely saw it in the mirror, so I needed to rethink my lifestyle.

** Although I Was Productive, I Wasn't Sustainable**

My eyes twitch slightly, which sucks when you're trying to focus on a project that inherently needs a computer screen.

## The Solution
I was getting too much screen time, and I was also getting it too early. This was terrible, especially after a great productivity boost. So, I fixed it with more productivity! But now I need something else to be put in place of the first hour of my day. It can't be guitar, it's too loud for the morning...

**Exercise**

I started planking every morning, and just that little delay in looking at a screen has gotten rid of almost all twitching, and my bloodshot eyes. And the great thing about this is that exercise is good for waking you up, and good for you in general. I plan to build more into my routine, but I was shocked at how a simple plank fixed so much with my eyes.

## Message
TL;DR

1. Be productive in the things you're passionate about
2. Be sustainable

Figure out how to do what you love as much as possible (especially if it's your job!), and if issues start to arise because of that, adapt! All of my adaptations so far have happened in March, and I feel like I've got a bit more adapting to do, but it's been well worth it, I feel more motivated, and just all around happier.

Good luck!