What Does Your Life Feel Like?: Happy Hour vs Unhappy Hour
How you spend your life depends on how you spend your hours.
Happy Life = Happy Hours.
Happy Hour isn’t about cheap drinks.
Happy Hour is about making every moment meaningful.
Happy Hour:
- Prioritised: you actively say no to things, even if you really want to do them
- Present: you’re in flow because you’re singularly focused on what you’re doing in the moment
- Peak: what you’re doing matches the time of the day when you feel most energised to do it
Unhappy Hour:
- Drowning: you’re doing too many things and overwhelmed by your workload
- Distracted: you’re always thinking about what’s next and not pay attention to what’s now
- Effortful: you’re forcing yourself to be productive even though your mind and body aren’t aligned to the task
How often are you experiencing Happy Hours?
How often are you experiencing Unhappy Hours?
What do you need to do to change this?
In his book 4000 Weeks Oliver Burkeman talks about the finitude of our lives and that we’ll never have time to do everything. The more effective and efficient we try to be the more things we add to our to do list. To stop this never ending treadmill of activity we have to define what’s really important to us and let go of everything else, even if we want them.
In the Power of Now Eckhart Tolle illustrates why it’s so important being present. When we’re present we harness the moment, enhance our creativity and become more productive. We stay focused on the 'now' rather than being distracted by past or future.
Daniel Pink’s "When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing" encourages us to understand our personal productivity cycles. Are you a morning person or does your energy peak in the evening? Recognising this cadence means you’ll schedule tasks in alignment with your natural energy rhythms, making work feel less effortful.
How you spend your life depends on how you spend your hours.
Do you apply these principles to your hours?