Time, Intentions and Reality
There's an old saying that ”the road to hell is paved with good intentions.”
Without a doubt, I know that I have lots of things that I intend to get done every day, but most of the time ”reality” gets in the way and they don't actually end up getting done.
Rather than seeing this as some kind of sign of laziness, or lack of motivation, or character flaw, I think it is more a reflection of the fact that our lives is far more filled with activities these days than they used to be in the past.
While we might be able to argue that the Internet has brought us all closer together, it has also created a massive time sink that very easily sucks many hours out of our daily life that at one time was perhaps used for something more creative or entertaining or productive.
Managing our online time actually requires a fair bit of creativity — in and of itself — because we so often end up with a situation in which we believe that we ”have to” do a bunch of things even though they are largely voluntary.
Regardless, each day still comes to us with 24 hours in it, and even though we may have lots of organizing tools at our disposal, bottom line is that just because we have more things to do doesn't mean that we have more time to do them.
This afternoon, I actually found a little time to look through some of my old (paper) journals, dating back 20-25 years or more. The thing that stood out the most — at least after I finished reading and took a moment to consider my old words — is that I used to sleep a lot more than I do now.
These days, it's pretty normal for me to only sleep about 6 to 6 1/2 hours every night because I'm up working till one in the morning — and sometimes later — which made me realize that it's no wonder that I often feel like taking a nap by the time mid-afternoon rolls around.
I took a moment to consider the fact that more than a few of my friends complain about having sleeping problems. I just don't think human bodies were meant to be healthy and functioning and so little sleep.
And yet? For many people it's not even an option.
We have to keep working, for some people simply because they have two jobs to manage, for others because their income is directly contingent on how many hours they work. And if we don't, there's not gonna be any food on the table.
They may say that we're living in an age of prosperity, but I don't think that prosperity it's really reflected in quality of life just in quantity of stuff.
Just something to think about.
Thanks for stopping by, and enjoy the remainder of your holiday weekend! At least I think it's Labor Day in most countries…
How about YOU? Are you celebrating Labor Day, this weekend? If you are, will you get the day off, or do you have to "labor?" Leave a comment if you feel so inclined — share your experiences — be part of the conversation!
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Created at 2026.09.06 00:25 PDT
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I also sleep less now than I did when I was young, but for me it seems biological - not behavioral. Something flipped when I was in my 30s. I used to sleep deeply, 9 or 10 hours and more, and nothing could wake me up when I was sleeping. Sometime in my mid-30s, that changed to sleeping 7 hours a night and waking at every light sound. I rarely even bother with an alarm any more, because I wake up unaided before all but the earliest of time commitments.
On your main point, I am reminded of Ben Franklin's Diary.
First, he also didn't sleep much (I assume that was written when he was older ;-).
Second, for those blocks of time from 5-8am and 6-10pm, those hours would almost certainly be occupied by TV & social media for many/most people in the current generations.
Three or four hours of TV and doom-scrolling per person per day can kill a whole lot of productivity in a society. Although, to be fair, he had is own daily entertainment & social activities.
Agreed, lots of time is sunk into mindless doom-scrolling and watching TV of no particular merit. We watch specific movies we can stream... and that's pretty much it, aside from travel and historical documentaries. But I doubt that represents the majority's TV watching habits.
Franklin looks like he lived a very structured life if that diary is anything to go by! I admire structure and aspire to it... but so many random things seem to come at us from out of left field.
El organismo va cambiando con el pasar de los años. Sobre todo en lo que respecta a comer, dormir y movilizarnos. Me encantó la referencia que hiciste a "El diario de Ben Frankling". Un abrazo.
For me, every evening I have a lot of plans to get done for the day I usually try hard to stick to my plan but often not everything is done, still if I manage to do a half of it I am satisfied.
We also like you wake up early so that we have more time fo the day to use actively. 6:30 or 7Am that is the time when we get up, I definitely think that we should continue our active lifestyle, if we could not finish what we planned then just to do somethng else instead but just make sure that the hours not just lost for nothing :)
Perfectionism is probably one of my weaknesses... I really need to learn how to consider the day a success even if I only get most things — but not ALL — taken care of.
Yes, me too :)
Upvoted! Thank you for supporting witness @jswit.