I recently read this New York Times article on languishing, and boy do I relate.
For context, I constantly feel the the pressure to make use out of every moment of my day. Even if I'm doing something that is not objectively productive, like watching Netflix or reading news, I still want to be intentional about my time. If I watch Netflix for an hour, I want to have planned ahead of time to watch Netflix for an hour. Or at least planned to give myself 2-3 hours of break time.
Time blocking is the key to this, and even though I have a daily reminder to time block my schedule, I've barely done it the past two months. Sure, I might set aside time to call a friend or do some work, but for the rest of the day I'm just jumping between multiple little things; my attention scattered across my apartment floor.
One of the goals I set out to do this year was learn Spanish. While I started off great, things tapered down in April. I went from studying for an hour a day to doing one single minigame in Duolingo so that I can maintain my streak. I wanted to learn Spanish, but I couldn't find the motivation to spend more than 2 minutes on it a day.
I didn't know what to call this for a while. When friends would ask me how I was doing, I would say "Life is good, just boring." Languishing is a much better word. That halfway point between depression and thriving.
I'm glad to have read this article. Now that I can put a word to my feelings, maybe I'll be able to communicate it to others as well. After that, I might even be able to start time blocking my day more effectively. Who knows? One step at a time.
For context, I constantly feel the the pressure to make use out of every moment of my day. Even if I'm doing something that is not objectively productive, like watching Netflix or reading news, I still want to be intentional about my time. If I watch Netflix for an hour, I want to have planned ahead of time to watch Netflix for an hour. Or at least planned to give myself 2-3 hours of break time.
Time blocking is the key to this, and even though I have a daily reminder to time block my schedule, I've barely done it the past two months. Sure, I might set aside time to call a friend or do some work, but for the rest of the day I'm just jumping between multiple little things; my attention scattered across my apartment floor.
One of the goals I set out to do this year was learn Spanish. While I started off great, things tapered down in April. I went from studying for an hour a day to doing one single minigame in Duolingo so that I can maintain my streak. I wanted to learn Spanish, but I couldn't find the motivation to spend more than 2 minutes on it a day.
I didn't know what to call this for a while. When friends would ask me how I was doing, I would say "Life is good, just boring." Languishing is a much better word. That halfway point between depression and thriving.
I'm glad to have read this article. Now that I can put a word to my feelings, maybe I'll be able to communicate it to others as well. After that, I might even be able to start time blocking my day more effectively. Who knows? One step at a time.