# Ep. 253 — Making Time for What Matters ![rw-book-cover](https://wsrv.nl/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fstorage.buzzsprout.com%2Fvariants%2F8nfciwljt3xraj5ihjktub9d08eu%2F5cfec01b44f3e29fae1fb88ade93fc4aecd05b192fbfbc2c2f1daa412b7c1921.jpg&w=100&h=100) URL:: https://share.snipd.com/episode/aba30061-5a8b-437e-a0b7-3cedcda8f2b6 Author:: Deep Questions with Cal Newport ## Highlights > Episode AI notes > 1. People with an abundant perspective on time engage in reflective activities like journaling, meditating, and yoga which lead to a more fulfilling life > 2. Having a more abundant perspective on time can lead to more interesting and memorable experiences, and the time spent outside of work has a bigger impact on how people feel about their schedule > 3. It's important to know what is already on your plate before taking on new tasks and only prioritize top tasks for effective time management. ([View Highlight](https://share.snipd.com/episode-takeaways/d975c0ef-de72-4d81-9cdf-c8f2e59cfac9)) > Perception of Time and Quality of Experience > Key takeaways: > - The people who had an abundant perspective on time spent time on reflective activities like journaling, meditating, and yoga. > - They built in space to think about life and engage in spiritual disciplines. > - Reflective activities can lead to a more abundant perspective on time. > Transcript: > Speaker 2 > Yeah, well, there are a couple of things. I mean, one was making time for sort of more reflective activities. That was something that came out quite pronounced in the data that the people who had the most abundant perspective on time were spending time on things like journaling, meditating, yoga, you know, any sort of thing along those lines, spiritual disciplines, whatever would have you think about life, like that you built in space to think about life. ([Time 0:28:32](https://share.snipd.com/snip/9ebf108a-0422-4a16-b34f-00cd59d80d2d)) > The Impact of Perspective on Time and Life Satisfaction > Key takeaways: > - Having a more abundant perspective on time can lead to more interesting and memorable lives > - What people do with their time outside of work can have a bigger impact on how they feel about their schedule than the number of work hours > - The difference in work hours between those with a scarce perspective on time and those with an abundant perspective was only a few minutes, not hours > Transcript: > Speaker 2 > And I mean, just one more thing with what they found differently. I found that the people who had a more abundant perspective on time, their lives looked more interesting. Like I had people recording like a Monday, I think is what it was that that they, you know, everyone did the same day. But people did something like go to salsa dancing lessons on a Monday night, you know, that the people who were in that top group were highly likely to have something that was just like, Oh, that's like an actual thing. Right? Like it's not, you know, I went to work, I came home, I ate dinner, I watched TV, I went to bed. You know, it was just that they had put something of some more excitement, something different out of the ordinary into their lives, making more memories, more memories again, like interacting with other people. > Speaker 1 > Now it is the number is the number of work hours, though, more or less the same between these groups is that that's, this is more about what they did with the time that was outside of work is what impacted how they felt about their schedule, not that in order to do salsa dancing, they were working on average three hours less or something like this. > Speaker 2 > It wasn't as profound a difference as you might think. I think the people who had a, um, I'm trying to remember this correctly here because it was five years ago now, but from what I remember, the people who had a more scarce perspective on time were working a little bit more than the people who had the most abundant perspective. But we're talking like minutes. It wasn't three hours a day. Yeah. That was not the primary explanation for the difference. ([Time 0:30:09](https://share.snipd.com/snip/3a8fe9b2-040d-4fe3-8402-ba90f9e3ba2f)) > Planning Your Week to Manage Your Time > Key takeaways: > - It is important to know what is already on your plate before taking on new tasks > - New tasks should only take precedence if they are extremely important > - Prioritizing tasks is essential to effective time management > Transcript: > Speaker 2 > Knowing exactly what is on your plate is often the best defense strategy for then adding new things to your plate. And I don't think you won't ever add new things. It's just that if it doesn't reach like the top level of like, oh my gosh, I'll cancel other things. I'll move everything else around to bring this in, then it's probably not worth it. ([Time 1:15:25](https://share.snipd.com/snip/f1f6d3dd-50fc-4d37-ae9a-2057a4e2ac7f)) - Note: [[Time blocking]] is what I use because it helps me visualise all the overhead that comes with tasks I've committed to. --- Title: Ep. 253 — Making Time for What Matters Author: Deep Questions with Cal Newport Tags: readwise, podcasts date: 2024-01-30 --- # Ep. 253 — Making Time for What Matters ![rw-book-cover](https://wsrv.nl/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fstorage.buzzsprout.com%2Fvariants%2F8nfciwljt3xraj5ihjktub9d08eu%2F5cfec01b44f3e29fae1fb88ade93fc4aecd05b192fbfbc2c2f1daa412b7c1921.jpg&w=100&h=100) URL:: https://share.snipd.com/episode/aba30061-5a8b-437e-a0b7-3cedcda8f2b6 Author:: Deep Questions with Cal Newport ## AI-Generated Summary None ## Highlights > Episode AI notes > 1. People with an abundant perspective on time engage in reflective activities like journaling, meditating, and yoga which lead to a more fulfilling life > 2. Having a more abundant perspective on time can lead to more interesting and memorable experiences, and the time spent outside of work has a bigger impact on how people feel about their schedule > 3. It's important to know what is already on your plate before taking on new tasks and only prioritize top tasks for effective time management. ([View Highlight](https://share.snipd.com/episode-takeaways/d975c0ef-de72-4d81-9cdf-c8f2e59cfac9)) > Perception of Time and Quality of Experience > Summary: > People with the most abundant perspective on time make time for reflective activities like journaling, meditating, and yoga. > Transcript: > Speaker 2 > Yeah, well, there are a couple of things. I mean, one was making time for sort of more reflective activities. That was something that came out quite pronounced in the data that the people who had the most abundant perspective on time were spending time on things like journaling, meditating, Yoga, you know, any sort of thing along those lines, spiritual disciplines, whatever would have you think about life, like that you built in space to think about life. ([Time 0:28:32](https://share.snipd.com/snip/9ebf108a-0422-4a16-b34f-00cd59d80d2d)) > The Impact of Perspective on Time and Life Satisfaction > Summary: > People with a more abundant perspective on time had more interesting lives according to a study. They engaged in activities like salsa dancing which made more memories and interacted with more people. The number of work hours was more or less the same, but it was the time outside of work that impacted how they felt about their schedule. > Transcript: > Speaker 2 > And I mean, just one more thing with what they found differently. I found that the people who had a more abundant perspective on time, their lives looked more interesting. Like I had people recording like a Monday, I think is what it was that that they, you know, everyone did the same day. But people did something like go to salsa dancing lessons on a Monday night, you know, that the people who were in that top group were highly likely to have something that was just like, Oh, that's like an actual thing. Right? Like it's not, you know, I went to work, I came home, I ate dinner, I watched TV, I went to bed. You know, it was just that they had put something of some more excitement, something different out of the ordinary into their lives, making more memories, more memories again, like Interacting with other people. > Speaker 1 > Now it is the number is the number of work hours, though, more or less the same between these groups is that that's, this is more about what they did with the time that was outside of work Is what impacted how they felt about their schedule, not that in order to do salsa dancing, they were working on average three hours less or something like this. > Speaker 2 > It wasn't as profound a difference as you might think. I think the people who had a, um, I'm trying to remember this correctly here because it was five years ago now, but from what I remember, the people who had a more scarce perspective on Time were working a little bit more than the people who had the most abundant perspective. But we're talking like minutes. It wasn't three hours a day. Yeah. That was not the primary explanation for the difference. ([Time 0:30:09](https://share.snipd.com/snip/3a8fe9b2-040d-4fe3-8402-ba90f9e3ba2f)) > Planning Your Week to Manage Your Time > Summary: > Knowing what's on your plate is key in deciding whether to add more. Only top priorities should make the cut. > Transcript: > Speaker 2 > Knowing exactly what is on your plate is often the best defense strategy for then adding new things to your plate. And I don't think you won't ever add new things. It's just that if it doesn't reach like the top level of like, oh my gosh, I'll cancel other things. I'll move everything else around to bring this in, then it's probably not worth it. ([Time 1:15:25](https://share.snipd.com/snip/f1f6d3dd-50fc-4d37-ae9a-2057a4e2ac7f)) Note: [[Time blocking]] is what I use because it helps me visualise all the overhead that comes with tasks I've committed to.