Reference

This article brings up a point that’s been stirring in my mind for the past few years. As our lives get more efficient, we become more idle. As we become more idle, our minds have more time to wander…and most of the time it’s not the good wander.

When I was in college I took a course called Women in Management. To be honest I took it because it was a credit I needed and was supposed to be really easy (it was). However, in that class I heard one of the most important things of my life - “The devil preys on the idle.”

At this point in my life I was really struggling with my mental health. I was in a fucked up relationship, couldn’t find a job when many of my friends had stuff lined up for after graduation, and really just didn’t know what I wanted to do. When I heard that phrase it really struck a cord. Even back in those days I had a lot of free time on my hands and I knew that when I had nothing to set my mind to I started having bad thoughts.

I remember when I was really young my parents were running errands all the time. This was mainly to purchase things they needed, drop things off for repair, or have a service rendered (notary, banking, whatever). Now it seems errands are really a thing of the past. Brick and mortar is completely dying and many things you can only buy online. Many things are now considered disposable now that the cost to produce and sell them is so low. Services that in the past had to happen in person, now happen in a fraction of the time online.

I have TOO much time. I don’t know what to do with myself and am so in my head that I’ve talked myself into hell. I have hobbies, but I’ve convinced myself that I need to make those revenue generating things and I can’t enjoy them.

A life of leisure sounds amazing so long as I can get out of my head and actually enjoy the down time. Stop thinking about deploying your time effectively and just start doing the things you want to do and being OK with whatever that is, Elliott.