Until I recovered from my depression, I was in the situation of a person who does nothing with his free time, except the bare minimum. Today I study English, Arabic, chess and piano. In addition, I write my blog, I write or comment on posts on social networks, I see friends whether in my club, the chess class or visits to my best friend. Since then, there is a problem that was new to me: the problem of time management.
Here is what I wrote to my sister Ariella about it:
You often tell me that you don't have time:
- First of all, it is true that there are no more than 24 hours a day. It is legitimate to pretend that you don't have time, and it makes sense to cancel an activity in favor of another for which you really want to devote time or postpone it a little later, in case both activities interest us. This is called priority management.
- Secondly, it is also true that one should not devote all one's time to the same thing. This is called addiction. When I was young, I made this mistake with chess. It was not healthy:
• Neither for me because I wouldn't devote enough time to studies nor to other things that might have interested me.
• But it wasn't healthy for chess itself either. I couldn't really move on. I have noticed that today, while I devote only one hour a day to chess, as well as piano, Arabic and English, I am progressing better in all these areas. (In each of them, when I say "one hour a day", it can range from zero to three hours, again depending on the management of priorities.)
- It is also true that when I have decided to do something, I always find time for it. And if I can't find it, it's because I tell myself that in the end it wasn't that important.