To combat the feeling of time accelerating with age, actively practice feeling. By consciously allowing yourself to weep at something moving or laugh out loud at something funny, you register moments more deeply. This slows down your perception of life and prevents you from merely ripping through it.

Writing down specific images from your day is more than memory-keeping; it’s attention training. This practice trains your eye to seek out small, nourishing moments you'd otherwise miss, like a dog napping in the sun. It actively rewires your focus toward what matters and what you want more of.

Many professionals boast about working long hours, but this time is often filled with distractions and low-impact tasks. The focus should be on eliminating "whack hours"—unproductive time spent doom-scrolling or in pointless meetings—and working with deep focus when you're on the clock.

Not all hours are equal; a 9 AM Monday slot might be worth $500/hour in focused output, while a 4 PM Friday slot is worth $10. Identify your peak performance times for deep, creative work and relegate low-cognitive tasks like watching informational videos to low-energy periods like a commute.

We often optimize workflows to save time, only to fill that newfound time with more tasks. The real purpose of productivity should be to create intentional 'park bench moments' of rest and enjoyment. This space is the goal of the effort, not a byproduct.

For two weeks, nightly log the five activities that energized you and the five that drained you. This simple practice reveals your core strengths and "gifts." By analyzing these patterns, you can intentionally redesign your role and responsibilities to spend more time on energizing tasks, actively combating burnout.

Feeling "off the clock" requires rigorous upfront planning. The people who feel most relaxed about their time are those who have meticulously managed their schedules, removing the background anxiety of pending tasks. Discipline is the prerequisite for freedom, not its opposite.

We often construct narratives about our work habits (e.g., "I work long hours") that don't match reality. A guest who believed she worked 50-hour weeks discovered through tracking that her average was closer to 40. Tracking exposes this self-deception and frees up hidden time.

Frame daily activities as either contributing to 'aliveness' (connection, movement, focus) or 'numbness' (doomscrolling, binge-watching). This simple heuristic helps you consciously choose actions that energize you and build a more fulfilling life, rather than those that numb and distract you.