So much to do, so little time ...

[nicklebleu]

Hi all,

Have had something on my mind for quite some time now and just wanted to run this past you for your input ...

In the last two years, since starting the work, my pace in life has increased tremendously. At first, I was mostly reading The Wave and other books by LKJ, then the list expanded into related fields. Then I joined the forum, subscribed to the SOTT newsletter. I also started to subscribe to related newsletter, which in turn added more to my reading list.

Then, with the publication of the EE videos, I started to regularly do the meditation/ breathing program. I also started to investigate some topics a bit more closely that I was interested in.

So at this stage, I am starting to feel progressively overwhelmed. So much to do, so little time.

Reading the SOTT newsletter, just the articles that I am interested in most, takes about an hour. Then reading the books on my reading list, not books that you can (or I can) speed read (currently reading Chittick's "Sufi Path of Knowledge"). Another hour just to keep up with the most important threads on the forum ... By then it's nearly midnight, depending on the day, it's another 1 hour for the full meditation/ breathing program, or another 20 minutes for just the meditation. I have cut my sleeping hours and I'm starting to feel exhausted.

Apart from that I am busy person, both professionally and socially. I can find one to three hours per day at the uppermost to get all the things read and studied. But I also think, that this feeling of being overwhelmed doesn't really contribute to the situation, in fact probably makes things worse, makes me inefficient.

I have tried to do different things on different days: read one day, check out the SOTT newsletter another, still another visiting the forum etc. I found this approach not very satisfactory, because I seem to miss a lot of things that way, which I am interested in.

I wanted to ask, if anyone amongst you has similar feelings, and what you do about it. I would like to find a way to approach these things more methodically and with less feeling of being constantly on the run. Of course I know, that this feeling of nervousness is also one of my programs.

How do you manage the various things? Your input and ideas would be greatly valued ...

 

[cholas]

hi nickelbleu,
I sure understand your predicament as I'm sure many here do. Time just keeps on shrinking.

For better or worse, my work is seasonal which means 'down time' in Aug and Sept., plenty of time to read etc. But the rest of the year it's 7 days/week of work. This makes staying abreast very difficult as you've mentioned. And I have no real answer yet, though with the economy the way it is.....

I can't imagine how Administrators/moderators swing it. :/

Is maybe a reorganizing of priorities in order? For example, attempt to lay off of those 60hr work weeks, if that's what you currently do. Maybe sacrificing income a bit but having more time for those truly important things is a worthy trade-off.

At the same time, maybe the immediate future will sort-of correct out without too much serious effort on your part? ;)

Wish you the best.

 

[Ellipse]

I wanted to ask, if anyone amongst you has similar feelings, and what you do about it.

Oh Yes! Big problem for me too.
The other problem is to find a balance between intellectual and outdoor activities and I'm not very good at this. :(

 

[nicklebleu]

I wanted to ask, if anyone amongst you has similar feelings, and what you do about it.

Oh Yes! Big problem for me too.
The other problem is to find a balance between intellectual and outdoor activities and I'm not very good at this. :(

Very good point, Ellipse ...

I have tried to keep healthy (food/ drink), but have cut my sporting activities to replace them with reading and surfing the net. Not sure that is a good thing, as moderate physical activity is cleaning both body and mind ... maybe I should take this up again.

 

[mkrnhr]

I keep it non-anticipatory. When I have time for something I do it. I feel the gaps in other words. When I am at the office and I lunch a computer simulation I take a look at the forum and the sott page. If I don't have time to read and article or a thread, I print it for later. Etc... Just improvise to optimise time and effort.
Of course I end up with sleeping between 4 and 5 hours some nights. But with balance be intellectual effort, social activities, physical activity, readings, self-observation, meditation/breathing, it should be ok IMHO. All in all the days are tooo short.

 

[Marcus-Aurelius]

I keep it non-anticipatory. When I have time for something I do it. I feel the gaps in other words. When I am at the office and I lunch a computer simulation I take a look at the forum and the sott page. If I don't have time to read and article or a thread, I print it for later. Etc... Just improvise to optimise time and effort.
Of course I end up with sleeping between 4 and 5 hours some nights. But with balance be intellectual effort, social activities, physical activity, readings, self-observation, meditation/breathing, it should be ok IMHO. All in all the days are tooo short.

This is also what I do. I don't plan things in advance; when I have time to do something, I just do it. But with time passing, an arrangement appeared by itself: I now read quite everyday on my way to work and in week-end, check SOTT pages and the forum during break and after work time, meditate when am back at home. Thinking for some time now to add sport activity to my program but am still lazy to make it happen.

 

[Ben]

Sounds familiar to me! I find it useful to think about how efficiently I use my time, so for example if I have a few minutes here and there while cooking I can read a few Signs articles in that time, while a more extended period of time is better for reading the forum. Sometimes I also feel overwhelmed by the volume of material just at this site alone especially when I've been away for some time, and I find myself trying to rush through it and not getting the best I can from the material I do manage to get through. That's when bookmarking pages for later is a great way to go. The number of posts per day here is so much higher than when the forum started (plus I was at university!), gone are the days when I expected to read every word!

 

[nemo]

Hi nicklebleu,

i don`t have much to recommend, since I`m having similiar problems like you. Up till half a year ago I regularly read the SOTT page and the forum contributions.
Regular reading and posting did cost me several hours, since writing something sensible in a relatively short time is not my forte.

The year in which I registered here, I spent up to 10, 12 hrs reading the forum + the net (Obsession). During the next 18 months I read a lot less on the net, instead
concentrating on the SOTT, the forum and recommended books. I did post less and less due to being ignorant and having not enough time.
I totally immersed myself into Gurdjieff until quite unexpectedly I`ve been pushed out of my then everyday life. All the studies came to a sudden end.
Mainly because I had to relocate I had less and less time to even read the forum. I had clashed this year against the worst mental + especially physical limitations since
I don`t know when. Then I was without an internet connection for almost 2 months. When a few weeks ago I again started to read the forum regularly I found out not only,
that a lot of stuff had happened in the meantime, but also that the sheer quantity of the forum posts have at least tripled. Recently I didn`t check Recent Posts for a day.
Next day a new thread has appeared (creating new world) with over 30 pages!!! On the one hand I`m of course happy about the increase of activity here, on the other hand:
I don`t have a snowball`s chance in hell to read all the posts, not to mention commenting on them. Especially not if I want to continue with my creative work which I have
to do in my free time. Plus: I earn less now than previously + my living costs have increased considerably (translates into less time for creative work). PLUS: New dynamic
in living situation which also costs more time)


So what am I gonna do? I have to work for $$$ (no way around that one), I`ll get back to drawing (zero $$$) even if that means that I`ll be unable to contribute on the
forum (but I don`t want to sink into depression). I`ll continue reading the books (Political Ponerology the 2nd time - gosh, it`s more difficult than i remembered), skim
the Recent Posts and read very selectively the threads which seem esp. important, doing the biweekly breathing exercises, TRYING also to do the daily meditation
and watch Laura`s videoseries (and hopefully donate a little sth when $$$ situation allows).

My two cents: If you don`t have a lot of time, you`ll have to be selective. Try prioritizing. Do what you can. Try to not feel guilty or overwhelmed by what you can`t do..


Disclaimer: Normally I would not post this one, instead read and edit it again the next day, wait maybe another day or two only to find that my post has become obsolete.
:/

 

[andi]

Indeed , we are so occupied doing all the daily activities and there is so little time to observe yourself and the subtle symbols that are given to us as a reflection of who we are and what we ask for .

How are we going to notice the subtle responses given to us as symbolism in our environment in response to our questions if we do not make the necessary time for it ; I mean , I may ask a question but then I don't have time to receive the answer and i find myself asking the same question over and over again . So basely the question is close to being superficial and the answer can not be better . And since the lesson is not learned , you will be redirected and have different experiences until you get it ...but if we don't have time , then who much of our life is spent in trying to solve simple lessons ?

Very frustrating...because I can limit myself from many things , but who many things can i limit before becoming unsocial , closed , and unresponsive to those around ..

I don't know if its appropriate here ; it is a saying i was hearing a lot when i was younger : "We do what we can with what we have"

 

[Mikey]

I wanted to ask, if anyone amongst you has similar feelings, and what you do about it. I would like to find a way to approach these things more methodically and with less feeling of being constantly on the run. Of course I know, that this feeling of nervousness is also one of my programs.

The same is for me. I cannot really do something against it, I just try to work as hard as I can to free up time. After practicing the breathing/meditation program twice a week (since it started), I notice though that sometimes I intuitively visited a particular site, and it was relevant or there was information waiting for me.

Disclaimer: Normally I would not post this one, instead read and edit it again the next day, wait maybe another day or two only to find that my post has become obsolete.
:/

This sounds familiar to me! ;)

 

[LoveAndLight]

I also have a similar problem, I have so much to do with school and work that theres not enough time to accomplish everything I want. But my health has been declining severely over the past year, so at this time I am thinking about dropping out of school and working less. The main thing I'm focusing on right now is healing my self and gaining knowledge that will truly benefit me in the future. Without my health I cant really do anything so I'm dropping everything else. Sometimes I feel like quiting because of all the burdens but I know I'm not the only one suffering, so I keep pushing.

I try not to make deadlines with myself and just learn whatever I find interesting or am curious about. I try not overwhelm my self because we already have so much stress on are hands to deal with in this world.

 

[seek10]

I can relate to this very well. some days it is very tough to come to forum and even if I come , I easily get drowned in the posts to suffocation. some times, it is difficult to remember what I read here. Time goes by. As you spend more time here, more ideas starts and more desires to do. time doesn't grow the way desires grow and as G said it needs emotional energy for doing real WORK . I thinks practice builds up the muscles . I can't even think of how the moderators and laura does this . some time back, I thought of posting one post atleast every 2 days, frankly I couldn't do. I get some thing emergency , I skip it for a day, it becomes next day, by the time I remember It would be week or two. whether it is predator of sort or other means, I end up forgetting.

 

[Gertrudes]

Nickebleu,

As everyone in this thread I also suffer from trying to be able to cope with daily activities, work for a living and the overwhelming quantity of material presented in this forum.

A few year ago I started to study something new and I was worried because I felt too old to start it and wanted to catch up as fast as possible. So I basically drowned myself in classes. I took so many that I became an automatic zombie. After an initial period where I progressed, my growing stopped and I couldn't understand why. What I learned from this is that: There are no short cuts (and after reading this statement from the C's, the issue became so clear!)

Nowadays, when I feel overwhelmed with time, which still happens quite often, something that helps me is to relate to this experience and how I felt that my learning had truly stopped because I was under so much stress. So I think: baby steps. Sometimes it is better to choose to do one thing for a moment and stick to that one thing but be fully present in it. I still find myself sabotaging my process of learning by trying to read as much as I can from the forum, but doing it way too fast...and then I end up saying, what have I actually read?... And notice that I can't remember things clearly. In my native language we have an expression that translated means: Having bigger eyes then stomach. Which means putting on your plate more then what you can actually eat. I know I tend to do this but don't know if you share this program as well

Is maybe a reorganizing of priorities in order? For example, attempt to lay off of those 60hr work weeks, if that's what you currently do. Maybe sacrificing income a bit but having more time for those truly important things is a worthy trade-off.

I don't know if this would be apliable at all in your case Nicklebleu, as a self employed I am able to juggle with my schedule so I did cut down a few hours and it has been helping me a lot.

 

[Breton]

Hi nicklebleu,

i don`t have much to recommend, since I`m having similiar problems like you.

Let me say: same here!

I had clashed this year against the worst mental + especially physical limitations since I don`t know when.

I am sorry to hear that: that is the real life isn't it? You never know what is going to happen! The General Law rearing its ugly head?

On the other hand for me, just when I was going crazy at my job, could not stand it, it was taking too much mental energy, when somehow the universe lined up to help change my responsibilities and reduce the stress considerably. This lasted for not quite a year and was crucial in the time when I needed to get through the Wave and get up to speed.

However things can and do get very hectic and busy in both work and personal life, and at the moment are more busy now, so at a moment like this it is the best I can do to barely take a break in my work day to read something and (gulp) even post something about it!

Next day a new thread has appeared (creating new world) with over 30 pages!!! On the one hand I`m of course happy about the increase of activity here, on the other hand:
I don`t have a snowball`s chance in hell to read all the posts, not to mention commenting on them.

Same here - same here!

... you`ll have to be selective. Try prioritizing. Do what you can. Try to not feel guilty or overwhelmed by what you can`t do..

Yes what else can you do? Also pray, to the universe, without anticipation, for something to "ease up" maybe?

Disclaimer: Normally I would not post this one, instead read and edit it again the next day, wait maybe another day or two only to find that my post has become obsolete.

Same here again!!!

I have been able to squeeze in extra moments here and there by downloading articles and books to my cell phone/PDA.
So I would pull out the device while waiting in a line, or when waiting for kids at an appointment, or getting my haircut! I even used it waiting for kids to fall asleep! I had to hold the device under the bed so as not to disturb the kids - and also hide it from my wife. She did wonder why it often took an hour for the kids to fall asleep. ;D

Socially I should get more time now because I recently ended my membership in my religious organization. Now that my family and my relatives and social network thinks I am going to Hell, they don't quite know how to relate to me while they are grieving for my undying soul. I will not be getting invitations as much for things, and I obviously will not be holding any duties in any congregational functions anymore!

_Breton_

 

[nicklebleu]

Thanks all for your feedback!

I think you are right, it all comes down to just plod along as well as one can.
The point is quality, not quantity (actually just wrote it the wrong way around the first time ... which I found telling). Something I tend to loose sight of ...

In my native language we have an expression that translated means: Having bigger eyes then stomach. Which means putting on your plate more then what you can actually eat. I know I tend to do this but don't know if you share this program as well

"Les yeux plus gros que le ventre!"

Definitely a program that I know very well too ...