At any given moment, how we are using our time in the immediate present can move us towards or away from our goals in the future.
I’ve recently been rolling an idea around in my head that can best be represented with the following, admittedly shitty, diagram:
![[images/productive-conscious-1.png]]
There are two groups of activities:
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Productive - an activity that “produces” some tangible asset that may be useful to someone else.
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Consumptive - an activity in which no asset is produced and has no immediate material benefit to someone else.
And, there are two approaches to any activity:
- Mindful - to be aware and present whilst partaking in an activity such that we grow from the experience
- Mindless -
An activity that is productive is by definition an activity that at it’s conclusion has “produced” some tangible asset that may be useful to someone else. For example this article will exist at the conclusion of my efforts today and it “may” be useful to someone else.
A consumptive activity on the other-hand is one in which no asset is produced and has no immediate material benefit to someone else. e.g playing the 11th instalment of Call of Duty or reading a book.
Consumptive activities are not inherently bad, in fact they are necessary to increase our understanding of the world and enable us to be productive later.
To act mindfully means to be aware and present whilst partaking in an activity such that we grow from the experience. This could be attempting to solve some puzzle or problem set. It could be interacting with your son or daughter in the most understanding way possible or it could be a full-on mindfulness retreat.
Conversely, to act mindlessly is to be partaking in a way that no growth is occurring. For example, scrolling through social media or shopping for clothes online.
The combination of mindful/mindless and productive/consumptive create very different outcomes over the long term.
Having covered this, what percentage of your time do you think is spent in simultaneously productive & mindful effort?
Sounds obvious, but it is our choice as to which direction we are moving.