Workin’ it Like a Machine

If you were a machine and could plan out every element of your day and strictly adhere to it, how would your day change? You’d have to allocate 8 hours for sleep and 60 (20×3) minutes for meals, but other than that you’d be free to choose your placements. Of course, you’d still be subject to your responsibilities, with the difference being that any commitment you make will automatically be kept, or at least iterated through when time is available. As I sit here and attempt to study while drifting in and out of sleep and constantly getting distracted, I feel that being a machine would certainly change things.

But what would it change? Sleeping 12 hours of any day is a total waste for me, but most of the other seem somewhat worthwhile. In the process of studying I came across a reference to Castiglione’s Book of the Courtier… and decided to buy it online (for $1.50! from half.com!). As I’m constantly fascinated by my readings (I’m rereading the Euthyphro and Symposium right now) I wonder what it is that I _should_ be learning, as it all seems so interesting to me. I love philosophy, I love dance, I love music… and I’m studying and practicing all of them… but if I were a machine, then how would things be different?

Would I allot 2 hours every day to guitar, another 2 to lindy hop, another 2 to ballroom, maybe 4 hours of reading, and the remaining 4.5 hours of free time to friends or work or…?? It’s not that simple in real life, but just imagine… what would you do? And how much more specific would you get? What would be on your to-do list? You can’t learn something without a clear plan. Or would you not be interested in that kind of learning? Would you methodically play Mario Kart and Quake? What would be your ideal and most practical ways in which to advance yourself? Heck, as I look up at my list I realize that I didn’t leave time for email or photography or following the news? This starts getting complex when you add more interests…

This is just a hypothetical… but I keep wanting to choose between taking time to relax and reflect versus taking time to improve a skill, and then I can’t decide what skill to work on. How would/could things be different if every goal could be carried out? What would you be? And how would you get there? Well, it’s back to studying for me…:-).