I read a brilliant article today from the Guardian about how our attention has been stolen from us. https://www.theguardian.com/science/2022/jan/02/attention-span-focus-screens-apps-smartphones-social-media

There’s also a brilliant podcast by Seth Godin on our use of time. https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/akimbo-a-podcast-from-seth-godin/id1345042626?i=1000539150843

My phone tells me how much screen time I use and when that information is revealed to me, I only realise then whether I’ve spent too much time online or on the phone.

The pandemic has also altered my state of mind when it comes to use of time and quality of attention over time. Especially when I consider how to make the best of my time when I work from home.

And one of my favourite quotes about time is from Proust.

‘The time which we have at our disposal every day is elastic; the passions that we feel expand it, those that we inspire contract it; and habit fills up what remains.’

Time moves slower when we are aware of time. What habits do we have in place? Are they predominantly good ones or bad ones?

No doubt, we have to fill time in leisure and mere habits but the days I spend pursuing passions are more fulfilling.

Some of the passions I have are as follows:

Playing guitar, composing, producing, mixing, arranging, editing, teaching, listening to and learning music.

Collaborating with and inspiring others to get the best out of each other. Engaging in interesting and open discussions.

Running, cycling, swimming and beating personal records, setting and achieving new goals.

Cooking vegetarian food from scratch. Learning new recipes and trying different things.

Reading books, both fictional and non fictional. listening to podcasts that inform, educate and inspire me.

Supporting Liverpool and watching sports, namely football and F1 and getting into the political or tactical details.

Long walks with friends. Time spent with family and friends.

Writing on my website.

Each day is an opportunity to fill up time with your passions. Sometimes passions find you but I find that it’s more likely that you garner a passion when you work for it.

Ultimately, may each day be filled with time and attention spent on that which is worthwhile. There’s significantly more than a lifetime’s worth of worthwhile out there.