Have you read the Happiness Project? I found it at the library a few days ago in the "Fast Read" section (which basically means you have one week to read it without fines). I've always wanted to check it out since it's practically everywhere in bookstores. It also has mixed reviews on Amazon, so I was curious to say the least. I finally started reading it yesterday and I'm already 100 pages in.
One of the mantra's I've gotten from the book so far is that you can accomplish a lot by doing a small amount of a task every day. I spend so much time mindlessly clicking from blog to blog (or facebook) that the days just rush by. I feel like I use "I just didn't have enough time" as an excuse far too often. If I didn't waste so much time on my computer, I could get tons of things done! I could read all of those books collecting dust on my shelf. I could spend more time with my boyfriend. My to-do list wouldn't sit there stagnating.
I mean, look at me now. I came onto the computer to write a blog post and send a friend a facebook message, and I've been on here over an hour! I probably couldn't even tell you all of the websites I visited. I only know how long I've been on here because I wrote a tweet at 9:45pm.
So I sat here and thought about what I want to accomplish for August. I know I'm starting my Master's, which is a huge deal. But I have to have more goals for myself. I wrote on my blog on Thursday that I wanted to work towards becoming Yelp Elite. That's not going to happen if I don't keep writing reviews. I also want to reconnect with some old friends. I'm always jealous that my boyfriend has stayed in contact with lots of his high school and university friends, and all I can say is that I'm friends with mine on Facebook. Third, I want to write more posts for this blog. I only have 9 posts to show for July, and only 5 for June! This is unacceptable. Every day I think about things I can write about, and then it never happens.
I know that these three things all involve spending time on the computer. I don't think spending time on the computer is harmful for say. What is harmful is that I waste so much of my day aimlessly going to websites (especially when I wake up in the morning!). I get notifications on my phone, do I really need to physically check facebook and twitter so often? I barely tweet! Do I really need to check blogs so often? The posts will still be there at 10pm if I don't read them in the morning. I can't even imagine how much time I'd save if I just didn't waste so much time in the mornings.
It's time to make a change. Here is a list of 5 things I would like to accomplish in August for my mini Happiness Project:
1. Write a Yelp review every day.
2. Contact a different person from my past every day.
3. Write a blog post every second day.
4. Spend less than 30 minutes on unimportant things on the internet every morning.
5. Accomplish one thing on my to-do list every day.
Will this be difficult? Of course! It's not supposed to be easy. I don't expect to accomplish all of these goals. I just want to try. There's many more things I want to work on, but these are things that are "easier" to change.
I know there are so many more pressing issues out there. I know that the blog posts and the yelp reviews won't really change anything outside of my internet life, and my life won't be negatively affected if I never wrote a post or review again. This project is intended to improve my confidence. I hope that by the end of the month I'll be more confident in myself and not feel self conscious about what I post. I have to stop being afraid that people will think I'm dumb or unattractive. Even if one person thinks I should never write again, I have to believe that someone else doesn't feel the same way.
Let's see how this goes.
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