There Is No App for Happiness by Max Strom

Author:Max Strom
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing
Published: 2015-05-16T16:00:00+00:00

Exercise: Bartering Your Time

1. Track your time—learn how you’re spending it now. Write down what you’re doing every day for one week. Keep a journal or do a spreadsheet.

2. Now that you have your one-week tracking complete, you will understand truly how you allocate your time. Now, list your activities by priority. What activities are crucial financially, physically, and of course, emotionally? Take a second look at the emotional list because it is likely that you underschedule some activities, such as quiet time with your family, reading, or exercise, and overschedule other things, like passive entertainment, gaming, Facebooking, etc.

3. Now that you have reevaluated your priorities, you will need to shift some things around. Since each day is limited to twenty-four hours, you will have to eliminate, or massively shrink, some activities to make room for expanding more significant activities, such as following a new regime that brings a deeper level of fulfillment to your spouse, your children, and yourself. The next step is to find bartering opportunities. Example: I will trade ___ hours of my_____________ in order to use that time to________________.

4. Schedule your daily practice rather than wait for openings in your busy schedule. (Your daily practice will be covered thoroughly in the section discussing the third imperative.)

5. Schedule everything that is important to you up to a year in advance. This feels totally bizarre for many people. Because I travel so often, I have to schedule my life up to two years in advance. When I first tried doing this, it was very difficult psychologically. That many commitments over that length of time were far beyond my comfort level. But after doing it, I found it extremely beneficial in unforeseen ways as it continually caused me to stand back and look at my life and plan in two-year increments. And rather than making me less aware of the moments in my life, it brought me more deeply into them.

6. Become a collector of free time versus busy time. Schedule in time for which you have no plans. Have entire weekends with no plans. Book a vacation in Paris with no itinerary once you get there. Bumble around and feel what it is like to live spontaneously. When I visited India, I studied my guidebook carefully, noting the hotels that seemed best suited for my needs. But then one day a friend of mine made a gentle suggestion; she said, “Millions of people are reading the same guidebook. I suggest you book a hotel for the first few days you arrive to settle in, and after that, allow yourself to discover places to stay, eat, etc., that are not in the book.” This advice was invaluable, and I have found it applies to life in general here at home, not just in India. Getting out into nature is also an integral part of our practice. Whether it’s for a few minutes of breathing, meditation, a brisk walk, or a movement session, nature nourishes your energy system and connects you to the timeless source.

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