…Many people don’t know.
They’re merely doing what they think they need to do because it’s what they’ve been told/ taught/ tricked into thinking.
And sadly, in many cases, people are optimizing for the very thing(s) that’s making them most miserable.
Things like busyness (e.g. how can I squeeze in more time at work, check more emails, say yes to more tasks…) or comparison (e.g. how can I check my social media feeds more often, post/comment/share more, watch more people live their lives) or distraction (e.g. what social gatherings can I go to, who would join me in drinking/smoking/drugs, what TV series can I maximally binge on)… And so forth.
But, when you answer the question and actually know what you’re optimizing for—what you most want to optimize for in your life—your whole approach to scheduling changes.
You might realize what you actually want to optimize for are things like emptiness (e.g. an open calendar, no plans, no tasks) or connection (e.g. family gatherings/ outings, coffee with friends, live audio chats with like-minded people) or introspection (e.g. time spent writing, time spent meditating, time spent in therapy)… and so forth.
Take control of your schedule and you take control of your life. A schedule optimized for busyness isn’t going to get much inner work done—that needs to be decided and optimized for ahead of time. Never forget that it’s the makers of schedules who get the most out of life, not the prisoners of them.
P.s. How I like my paths.