One micro-habit I’d love to drop is speculating more on time than necessary. That means in the long run, of course, for example by simply focusing on my work, earning money, and then buying assets I believe in whenever I have capital to spare, but it also applies in more immediate settings.
I spend a lot of time wondering how much sleep I’m getting while I’m trying to sleep. “What time might it be now? Hmm, it’s still dark. So not yet 7 AM. I slept at 12:45. Or was it 1 already? How much can I get if I go back to sleep in the next 15 minutes? Six and a half hours? Seven?” The exercise is entirely futile, of course.
I have an alarm, so I know when I’ll wake up. I try to go to bed on time, but I don’t always make it. Whatever happens in-between won’t change either of those established patterns. Nor will the knowledge help me throughout the day later on. When I’m tired, I’ll get some rest. And if I feel full of energy, I’ll do some extra work or writing.
Time speculation extends to other areas as well. You can wonder how long you’ll need at the bakery, how your bus coming five minutes later will affect your arrival time at your destination, and on and on. Most of the time, the settings we do most of our speculating in are situations where we actually control little of the outcome at all. The speculation acts like a pacifier. It feels productive, as if we’re doing something when, actually, it’s merely a way of distracting ourselves from our worries—about showing up late, about missing something important, and about, well, not sleeping enough.
Don’t fight dead time. Recognize it, then make it come alive. There’s no need for speculation when, in your heart, you already know what to do.
