Life was so simple as a kid. I did what I wanted (of course within the boundaries of the rules). I played outside when I wanted to, I played legos when I wanted to, I rested and slept when I wanted to. Never did I overanalyze what I was doing, I just did the most natural things that made me happy as a kid.
The good ole days...
Somewhere along the way life became more complicated. At some point I started planning and preparing for my future. Maximizing my productivity became a priority. Work, sports, exercise, and extracurriculars became compartmentalized into schedules designed to maximize my overall output. Is this how we were meant to live? I can’t imagine so because it feels so wrong.
My life now...
I want to break this paradigm and go back to what I knew was right as a kid: being free and doing what I wanted. So my next crazy idea is: I’m only going to work when I feel like it. Say what? Yes, you heard correct. From now on I plan on only working when I actually want to, and when I don’t I won’t. It’s such a simple and natural idea!
The basic idea is if I don’t feel like working there must be a reason. I could be lacking sleep, been working too long, or perhaps I just don’t enjoy what I’m doing. The point is my mind/body is telling me something is wrong.
But now, instead of ignoring these signals and trying to battle my way through, I should do something about it! Take a nap, take a break, or worse comes to worse maybe a job change is needed. Fix myself before I fix my code. The human instinct is an amazing thing and tells us so much about what we need if only we listened.
Listening to my body...
Ok, sounds great, but we live in a modern world with real deadlines. Just because I’m having a bad day doesn’t mean I can just miss deadlines. True, but here’s the point. If I know I need to get something done and I refuse to work if I don’t feel like it then I better as hell make sure that I do feel like working when the time comes around.
All I’m doing is elevating the priority of my well-being over my productivity. For once, I want to think of myself before the creation of some generic computerized product. Who could’ve thought of such a crazy idea?!
Having said all this, yes, I do believe that persevering and pushing myself to finish a goal is sometimes necessary and very rewarding. But I can’t imagine going through this everyday is healthy and in the end I think it is just unfair to myself. Is my productivity really worth my vitality and happiness? I think not.
So from now on I’ll be working only when I feel like it. I’ll keep a journal keeping track of my activities. Hopefully I’ll be as productive in the end while breaking the monotony of the 8 hour workday. Let’s see how this goes 
