Free time > Busy

Hey friend, let me ask you a question.

Would you rather be busy?

Or would you rather be efficient?

The other night, I was reading the book 'Same As Ever' by Morgan Housel, and a specific quote stood out to me:

People want to look busy all the time because they think it's noble.

And that got me thinking...

He's absolutely fucking right.

Think about it:

Free time used to be a luxury only the rich could afford.

Watching opera...

Taking vacations...

but now having free time is deemed as poverty.

Leisure is a function of capital.

If you have sufficient capital to spend every moment of your day engaged in supporting yourself, then you're winning.

You have time...

The most valuable resource there is.

When you have availability in your schedule, it basically means that you've got "fuck you type of money" and can spend your days as you wish.

Nassim Nicholas Taleb said

"My only measure of success is how much time you have to kill."

Being able to wake up whenever and wherever you want and do whatever you want on that day with gratitude, well, that's a beautiful way to live.

Now there's a key phrase in there:

"Do whatever YOU want"

If you want to get so damn rich that you can spend the rest of your life playing retro video games in a Hollywood mansion, then who tf am I to tell you that it's wrong?

If that's truly what makes you happy in your spare time, go right ahead and work towards that.

But we live in a society that tells us engaging in leisurely activity is a waste of time.

Yet, the same society is subscribed to "work for work's sake"

W4W (work for work’s sake) is an observation by Tim Ferriss in his book ‘The 4 Hour Work Week’.

He rightly acknowledges that one of the heaviest anchors holding us down when it comes to both productivity and creating the lifestyle you want to have is work for work’s sake.

Despite its noble appearance, working for work's sake is a form of procrastination and laziness.

Working long hours on a task doesn’t make it important.

But what society has taught is that the more we work the more productive we feel.

Think about it:

Even our economy is structured that way- we get paid for working X amount of hours.

Not achieving, not accomplishing, not having done X amount of tasks, but the hours you've worked.

You see, we are all conditioned to believe that the more time you spend working, the more work you do.

Which of course, is dumb as fuck.

Decide what you want.

Plan how you get there.

Work efficiently, not busily.

Ignore everything else.

And don't feel bad for having a trip to the spa on your day off.

If you want to streamline your workflow, prioritize tasks effectively, and unlock your full potential for success, then consider my Notion template Productivity Pro - click here to claim 10% just for you.

Talk Thursday,

Mason from New Mentalities

PS: I’ll be sending the updated Social Media Blueprint in the upcoming days. It’s a free resource packed with value, sharing my secrets to building an audience online.

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