Life Is Short And So Is This Book

by Peter Atkins

You can, if you work hard and are lucky, get more of almost anything, but you can’t get more time. Time only goes one way.

“If I’d had more time I would have written a shorter letter”.

I have created a life I love. My job doesn’t feel like work. I love and respect the people with whom I spend time. And I’m also passionate about my life outside work. I’ve learned how to create a balance that makes me happy between work and other interests, including my family, friends and exercise.

life is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration. Even so, I hope you have fun perspiring.

Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop to look around once in a while you could miss it. - From the movie, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off

It’s often the most successful people I know who are most efficient with their time and who always seem to have time to think and to do more. The trick is people who are most productive tend to say no to things that are unimportant to them and focus on what they believe matters.

I once had a smart boss who told me if I wanted to do my best work, I needed to do fewer things, and really focus on what mattered.

just because someone else wants you to do something doesn’t mean you have to do it. You can’t get more time, so how you spend the time you have is critical. Focusing on what matters means saying no to things that don’t matter. Otherwise, your life becomes cluttered with distractions.

A better approach is to decide what you want to do and what is most important. Make lists. Then use technology to assist you, versus allowing it to control you. To execute on this concept requires discipline and practice, but anyone can get better at it, and make real progress if they want to.

One way I like to use technology to save time is, where appropriate, to eliminate meetings and use email instead.

Distractions have increased for reasons beyond new technologies.

A number of people I know claim to be great multi-taskers.

If you switch back and forth between multiple tasks, your brain works more slowly than it would if you focused on each activity for a period of time. Albert Einstein said: It's not that I'm so smart, it's just that I stay with problems longer.

there are combinations of activities which work together and can make you more productive.

Another way to free up time, if you have the option, is to live close to work.

There are usually good reasons people want to live far from work; it’s often significantly cheaper, and the schools may be better.

The ultimate reduction in commuting time is working from home – something that is becoming increasingly possible for many people, given the evolution of technology, and the desire of companies to get the most out of their employees while limiting real estate costs.

Making space in your life by using time efficiently also helps nurture creativity.

I find it interesting that people who tend to be the most creative have three things in common: They’re incredibly well prepared in their fields -- they become masters of their domains by practicing for many years, day after day. They spend time deeply focused on solving a key problem or key set of problems, no matter the obstacles. They allow themselves to step away from the problem(s) on which they’re focused, so that insights can come to them in activities such as walking, or looking out on a beautiful scene.

To get great insights absolutely requires hard work, but it a...

In taking walks these days, I try to notice the beauty around me; it helps me think and relax.

So to make the most of your life, say no to things that don’t matter, work hard at what you love, and occasionally take time away from your core focus to rest so that your mind can be quiet for great insights to come.

If you can't sleep, then get up and do something instead of lying there worrying. It's the worry that gets you, not the lack of sleep. -Dale Carnegie

Worrying, I’ve found, wastes energy and wastes time; it limits what you can accomplish. I try not to obsess on the past, but to learn from it. I try not to worry about the future, but to prepare for it.

The lesson to me is that you can focus on something going well, or something beautiful, or something interesting -- even amidst terrible times.

I try to put things into two buckets: one I can do something about and one I can’t. The things I can’t do anything about, I try to ignore.

I’ve also noticed it helps to accept the world as it is -- not in the sense that you can’t change things (although that is sometimes the case), but in the sense that you need to see reality clearly before you can take effective action.

Accept that luck and bad luck aren’t evenly or fairly distributed, and you can’t do anything about that.

There are some things in life you can’t change

You don’t have to change everything overnight. In fact, thinking you can, or should, is likely to lead to failure, or to feeling overwhelmed -- and as a result perhaps doing nothing.

when you make mistakes along the way, as I have at many points in my life, accept them as well.

Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.

All I want to know is where I'm going to die so I'll never go there. - Charlie Munger

I should probably make the distinction here between really dumb things, and routine mistakes made in the course of your life.

Unrecoverable errors can screw up your future

There are many things that are not nearly as dramatic, but can have a similarly negative long-term impact. What you choose to do each day matters. Habits form when we’re young, and solidify before we know it.

The second class of dumb thing – denial – is common.

The biggest mistake men make when they think about getting married is they assume women won’t change; the biggest mistake women make is they assume they can change men.

If you start feeling pain while exercising, it’s the body’s way of telling you to stop. If you battle through it, as many of us do, frequently you’ll make the injury worse.

Character is like a tree, and reputation like its shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing. - Abraham Lincoln

Character, I’ve found, is one of the most important things in life.

There are four basic principles that have worked well for me: Do what you think is right. Don't follow other people blindly. Be honest and keep your word. Admit your mistakes.

If you live your life authentically, keep your word, admit mistakes, and admit what you don’t know, you’ll find people will trust you more over time, and you’ll become wiser too.

The people with whom we associate can have a huge impact on the development of our personalities, particularly when we’re young.

think about the values and habits you want to have, and then ensure you choose your friends, colleagues, mentors and bosses carefully.

Real friends - people you trust, respect, laugh with, and can rely on - are a vitally important part of life. No matter how much wealth or fame you accumulate, if you don’t have true friends it’s unlikely you’ll be happy.

Lack of activity destroys the good condition of every human being, while movement and methodical physical exercise save it and preserve it. - Plato

if you want to feel good, be as productive as possible, live longer, reduce stress, be more creative, and be happier then you need to exercise regularly.

The result of less exercise and more food is not pleasant.

Another critical element of taking care of yourself is getting a good amount of sleep on a regular basis.