#82 - I Optimized My Life Until I Forgot How to Live

I spent years trying to optimize my productivity, routines and future until I realized I was becoming incapable of actually enjoying the present.In Episode 82 of The Struggle, I explore what my obsession with productivity taught me about time, presence and the strange difference between experiencing your life and remembering it. After living in Edinburgh for 30 years, I recently moved home, country and job. Having my routines completely disrupted forced me to notice just how much of my life had become dictated by to-do lists, optimization and some future version of myself. I talk about an afternoon with a friend that I barely appreciated while it was happening, only to desperately want to return to it the following day and what Daniel Kahneman and Jason Riis’s distinction between the experiencing self and remembering self might tell us about why this happens. How much of our present are we willing to trade for future success? And do we need a huge life event — moving, a breakup, illness or loss — before we’re willing to seriously reevaluate the lives we’re living? If you enjoy conversations about psychology, philosophy, self-development and the struggles that shape our lives, subscribe to The Struggle. What would make you seriously reevaluate your life without waiting for something to force you to? Let me know below. References Kahneman, Daniel & Jason Riis (2005) — Living, and Thinking About It: Two Perspectives on Life, in The Science of Well-Being. Experiencing self vs remembering self Experienced vs evaluated well-being How memory can differ from moment-to-moment experience Thomas Sowell — “There are no solutions, only trade-offs.” Used in relation to the trade-offs we make between present experience and future achievement. Chris Williamson — End of Year Review Personal reflection exercise for evaluating the previous year and considering changes for the future. Tim Ferriss — Fear-Setting Reflection exercise for identifying fears, considering their consequences and evaluating the cost of inaction. 👂 Listen To The StruggleApple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-struggle/id1724163527 Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/3eMb4txFAAyrPqr1pbxOUE?si=Ctq42-clRVCGWZIK5UhGZA 📱 Get In Touch Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/gregorsthomson/ Tiktok -https://www.tiktok.com/@gregor.s.thomson?_t=8ioMNLUnA25&_r=1 Email - [email protected] #productivity #SelfImprovement #TheStruggle