The behavior I wanted to track and subsequently change was doing “nothing” during my downtime. Like everyone, I tend to fall back into comfortable behaviors to procrastinate, like using social media, reading comics, etc. However, I’ve been taking on a tougher workload recently and suffering from minor burnouts because of it—instead of my procrastination being indulgent, I often find myself just sitting around doing “nothing.” I wanted to explore different ways to avoid short circuiting like this during my week, so I measured out what I did in-between larger chunks of activities (classes, watching a movie, meeting friends) from Friday to Tuesday.
I found that on an extreme basis, shorter or larger, the stretch between activities was, I was more likely to do nothing. For example, I scheduled a meeting before lunch on Tuesday, ending around 3PM. With my next meeting for work just an hour away, all I could really do was drive back home and avoid bed (failed). On the “longer” front, waking up at 8PM on Monday with plans at 11AM made me less likely to do anything in that interim with the choice paralysis induced by that pristine chunk of time (wasted).
Above: a comprehensive causal loop that I’m sure is a very unique experience, especially among undergrads. Jokes aside, what helped me the best during this experiment was actively treating my downtime as more mundane, and doing things for convenience’s sake. For example, after taking a drive somewhere this weekend, I also decided to clean my car, which felt like a “productive” use of my time retrospectively. I also tried to trick myself into being productive, like moodboarding for projects on Pinterest under the influence of a post-dinner stupor. Doing incremental work like this rather than saving larger portions to chew through was key to finding a good balance for myself these past few days. I also found myself “going out” more subconsciously: just walking places or getting air.
