THE TIME FREED UP BY LEARNING LIFE
AND SOLVING ALL OF YOUR PROBLEMS
This is just a focus on the short term effects of devoting time to life learning. The long term benefits, however, are huge compared to those effects (such as being able to retire earlier by being more effective in producing value you are compensated for). See the discussion immediately following the boxes.
THE DISCUSSION
IS IT WORTH DOING?
I ask you "Is it worth it to 'learn life'?" How could anyone possibly rationally and factually come to the conclusion that it isn't? The benefits are all "free", as we've replaced and saved more hours than the the hours spent. And at the same time we feel alot better and are enjoying our life more (in units of feeling good). (Read this also: Is The Payoff Worth The Time And Effort? - No Contest, If You Pick These, This Way!)
Doing this will literally transform your life overall, while still adding more and more to your present life. Nothing can beat that.
DO I HAVE THE TIME?
7 hours a week of "life learning" is 6% of time awake, assuming 8 hours of sleep (with no less than 7.5 hours of sleep ordinarily required, plus allowing for a 20 min. nap). If you are currently sleeping less, you will likely gain from a full night from 30-60% more productivity, which would save 4-6+ hours a day to get the same total production of value plus have more time for personally rewarding activities. (Look at the sleep checklist to assure you are "sleeping right".)
BUT IT "SEEMS" "HARD"...
Things "feel" "hard" when we are anxious about failure or loss of time for another opportunity. If I believe that my time won't have a payoff very soon, it will feel like a sacrifice, since humans think mostly in terms of short term loss - such as the sacrifice of great, mind-relieving really stupid, unmeaningful TV or the like.
There is nothing hard about doing one thing at a time for a pre-set period of time IF you believe that you will get something out of it. If you follow a good path (such as the ones specified on the site, see The Paths), then it will provide sufficient forward movement.
But will you succeed? Yes, you will, because people with your same level of intelligence/ability have succeeded. The people you've seen, included yourself perhaps, who have appeared to be avid life learners were people who followed some of the mystical or unscientific paths (to miracles, etc.) AND who stopped short of finishing up what was needed - they flaked out before getting the results! See "stop short" in the piece Completion - The Process Creating Great Power. In fact, you might want to remember is "do not start anything that you will not get a result out of". (Duh! Of course, but lots of people do that!)
YOU'LL SIMPLY CHIP AWAY, BUT GET BENEFITS AS YOU GO
It is true that you won't really "get" this truth (that the short term payoff is greater than the cost) until you've actually experienced it. So, given the highly probable huge, huge return and the probability that it will transform your life, I hope that you will try it for 30 to 60 days.
WHAT DO I DO THAT WILL GIVE ME BENEFITS QUICKLY?
Where do I free up time?
If I am "normal", and work/commute for 10 hours a day, I have about 41 hours per week of time left over after the other essentials. (See How Much Time Do I Have?)
If I get smart about eating and "getting ready" time, I can free up 6-8 hours a week. This is one benefit of learning time management with regard to doing repeated activities.
If I watch TV, I can free up at least one hour per day of of worthless watching, freeing up 7 hours/week.
THE TALLY
Net hours:
Flexible discretionary time in a week 40 hours
Hrs./Week
Assumed time spent in learning/solving: 7
Minus:
Time saved from smarter eating/readying: 6
Being more disciminating with TV 7
Not having to solve/relieve feeling bad 1-7
Net hours saved/ lost for more rewarding
personal activities: net saved 7-13
Units of feeling good:
Units
Feeling good about doing things to improve life 5
Feeling better about yourself 5
Feeling good about being more productive 5
Loss of value from least of TV hours 1?
Loss of value from lowest diversions 0-1
Loss of time going numb 0
Net gained feel good units 14