Sometimes we need to be hit in the face in order to realise that the work we are doing is probably not valuable and that we can, for sure, achieve more by using better the time that we have got.

If you think that the previous statement applies to you, it might be good to pick this book from the shelf and start reading it.

As someone that has been dealing with the illusion of being busy all the time, denying going-out with friends or even cancelling some family plans, because I was busy, I felt that Cal Newport has given me what I needed right when I felt I could use it more. Right before college. A time when there are so many opportunities ahead of me, that I would have surely thought of jumping in all of them, without caring too much about the quality of the result of each individual chosen activity. Now, I would think twice before doing that, think twice before deciding to reply to an e-mail that has arrived in my Inbox, think twice before deciding whether or not I should pick up the phone while I am waiting in line to buy the groceries from the market. I might kill boredom and my parents have been long-telling me (and also my teachers) that I should not allow myself to get bored. Keep your fingers busy all the time, do something, just do not settle. And here I am, ten years of following this advice, but with such a bad concentration skill. Dealing with the urges of receiving social confirmation from the social media websites and trying to keep myself from replying to e-mails the moment they arrive. Are those so important? I might not say so.

For me, it seems like it was an awakening call that I have been waiting for to receive. I have started a personal experiment of giving up on the social media websites I have been using on a daily basis and also told myself that I will work only until a certain time of the day. I will see how this works and document it at the same time here: medium.com/@stochitaradu

Thank you, Cal, for the hand!