读《四千周》
书籍信息：
我在去海南旅行的路上看完了这本书，去的路上看了一半，回来的路上看完了另外一半。这本书对我当前观念的转变非常大，我之前会为自己没有充分利用时间而感到痛苦，但现在我不会这样了，并不是说我变得懒散了（尽管看起来确实是这样），我认为自己不必再慌张了。我慢慢走，慢慢思考，这样就足够了。
01 Accept Our Finiteness
I always seek more. I always want to read more books or finish more works. If I make a compact plan to help me efficiently use my time of a day, I find I can not execute it as the plan. I think the deep reason is I want to get more things done within my limited time. But our desires are endless. That means finishing every things we aspire is impossible. We absolutely will be the loser.
When I recognize this reality, I realize that I have to accept my finiteness. I do not need to be the superstar or the next legend. If urgency makes me uncomfortable, I can complete my work in a steady pace. When I do one thing, I often think I should do an other thing that I have not finished. In fact, even if I choose the other one, I still will get the same thought. I am always looking toward the distance. As I approach a goal, my gaze follows it, shift to something even further away. It is like tying a bamboo pole to a donkey’s back, then hang a carrot from the end of the pole. The day the donkey eats the carrot never will come.
Human are a species prone to addiction. The inducements include not only social media, money, pornography, but also work, knowledge and strength.
We must accept the harsh reality: we can only finish a few things. After that, we should consider letting go of less important things, including those that offer only marginal benefits. I think this is one very difficult part of work. It is really hard to make trade-offs.
02 Pay Myself First & Limit My Work In Progress
Pay myself first means do what you most want to do first. No prioritization. Do them first. As time slides away, we may do not have sufficient attention to do them. Don’t wait or build any buffer zone.
Then limit our work to stay focused. When we plan to complete one task within a fixed time frame, we should restrict the temptation to pursue other appealing activities. This is because doing hard work is hard, and we are reluctant to face such tasks directly. As a result, we tend to seek some alternative less beneficial works as a form of consolation. Think more and more deeply and persistently, I believe we will eventually perceive a glimmer of excellence.
03 I Am Here
This a very philosophical thought. We do not see time as tool. We see themselves of things on which we need to spend time.
You don’t boil the kettle out of a love of boiling kettles, or put your socks in the washing machine out of a love for operating washing machines, but because you want a cup of coffee or clean socks.
This is my symptom. Imagine that we must remain on a mountain with no internet, no music, and no electricity. We are assigned a single task: to complete a Buddhist sculpture. Until we finish this task, we are permitted to descend the mountain. I believe we would become deeply attentive to do this work. Do not consider what awaits us after we leave the mountain. We are here–almost as if we become the thing itself. There is no other possibilities.
After word
I really like this book. Reading it feels especially appropriate for current me. I often find myself trapped in the time anxiety. This book has helped me see myself more clearly. And I have become more confident in how to use my time. I hope it will help others as well.