Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Making good use of my time

Today I had to take 2 French tests.

I decided not to study for them.

Here's why:
1. I haven't taken any French classes in over a year so studying for a few days was not going to help much
2. If I passed those 2 tests I would have to take an oral test. This I most certainly would not pass. And unless you pass all three, it doesn't count.

Even with these reasons, it was pretty hard to not study. I kept thinking that I was having a bad attitude about it and that I was being lazy and that I didn't study for it because I just didn't want to.

But I ignored all these thoughts as well as the ones that wanted me to get the highest possible mark I could get and instead I:
-spent the weekend doing all the things I've been putting off for ages (including starting this blog)
-I took Monday off and spent the day with my husband and didn't think about the tests
-and last night instead of doing my 'night before cram session', I had dinner with a friend

My decision to do this was heavily influenced by a book called '4 hour work week'. It talks a lot about how to make the most money in the shortest amount of time, which really isn't my thing. However the section on the 80-20 principle really struck a cord with me. My interpretation is that 80% of what I value in my life comes from 20% of my activities. This means that 80% of my activities do not add much value. This is definitely something I can improve upon.

No comments: