The Sacred Saturday Morning

My parents laugh at me when I tell them my Saturday mornings are sacred. They assume I'm being totalitarian when I demand a bit of quiet between the hours of 9am to 12pm. I get it; for them, it is a time to be lax, move slow, and chat. An escape from routine and focused attention. 

But my Saturday mornings have become my only solace for thinking. Really thinking. Not the distracted or burnt-out thinking that goes on during the work-week when I'm rushing to check my emails or groggy from the early rise. But a window to reflect and contemplate. I sell most of my cognitive supply to my job. I trade it for a check. What remains of my cognitive resources goes to handling chores, fitness, family & social time, and reading low-intensity books. 

Saturday mornings are for me. A selfish block of 3 hours where I can take good look at my life and devote my mental clarity to things that benefit the future me. I give myself ample room to explore new topics in business and technology that interest me. I research upcoming IPOs and take a closer look at my portfolio. I sometimes just read whatever book i've been postponing. I catch up on my buddy's blog or write my own blog post. I research places to travel to. Or look at job listings and degrees that interest me. Scanning the zeitgeist for new and sneaky trends. Recently it's been a lot of crypto & blockchain. The key here is having that mental sharpness that can be used where it matters the most: you. 

I write this because I realized over the past couple of months, since starting my first career-driven full time job, that our bandwidth is so limited. Our mental (and emotional) attention is one of our most valuable assets. And we so often spend it frivolously. I also noticed that a small investment in this field can have exponential returns. It can be a monetary return or simple insight that was hidden under all the noise. Our world is a barrage of never-ending information, events, urgencies, and opportunities. If you are able to just siphon off just 1% of it, understand it, the returns can be outsized.  The cliche, work smarter not harder is really what I am aiming for here. 

My Saturday mornings are my fascist attempts to take back what is mine. To reclaim my attention and autonomy. This world belongs to the informed and those who can focus long enough to truly understand what is going on around them. I plan to be one of them, on Saturday morning, at least.