I consider my life adequately independent in the sense that I do not depend on my family. (I haven’t lived with them full-time since I was fifteen, or at all since I was nineteen.) There’s an important limit to how independent I can be when I don’t drive, though, so I find it valuable to be among people; I may as well enjoy the largesse available under that circumstance. (Current roommate doesn’t drive either but has a close friend who does and helps out.)
I don’t know if I’m actually in a better financial situation than I would have been without this string of fortuitous circumstances. My income is vastly greater than my expenses, but my expenses are almost nil, so said income… is tiny. I’d need to get a job-job and keep it if I were paying for rent and food on my own, and might have more leftover cash that way than I do now. However, I have lots and lots of low-stress free time, which is very valuable to me.
If I valued my spare time more, I might have more of it… Instead, my life consists of running from one part time job to the other to school to choir practice, and basically collapsing in bed at the end of the day. Once in a while I wonder if it’s possible to permanently damage your creativity with enough sleep deprivation, but then I stay up half the night writing, which answers that question. I would probably enjoy all the things I do more (and do them better) if I did less of them...but choosing school over work isn’t an option, and I have a “loyalty problem”: once I join something, it becomes really hard for me to leave. (Which is why I’m still in a girls’ church choir, 5 years later.)
Once in a while I wonder if it’s possible to permanently damage your creativity with enough sleep deprivation, but then I stay up half the night writing, which answers that question.
Ack, that might be a case of the candle burning twice as bright but less than half as long, resulting in a loss in net light emitted.
In other words, forcing yourself to do creative work while also sleep deprived might be burning yourself out faster than if you got more sleep.
If only it were a matter of forcing myself...then I could decide not to, and get sleep! Usually if I stay up all night, it’s because I’ve been itching to work on a particular story all week and haven’t had time and am going insane from pent-up ideas.
I do sometimes. But when my brain looks at the week ahead and sees a solidly filled schedule, it oftens decides “screw it, if I don’t do this now I’ll never have the opportunity.” Also, I have creative and non-creative moods, and if I don’t write while in a creative mood, I often lose out on the chance.
I tried to do way to much throughout high school; studying cello, working with my dad and at a part time job, and then spending most of the night programming, and once I graduated and finished the projects I was working on I lost the enthusiasm to start anything else for almost a year.
Sometimes forcing yourself to just do less things and get at least eight hours a day of sleep is the best decision, even if you hate it and lie awake thinking of everything else you could be doing for the entire time. Its better than turning into a world weary introverted otaku. :p
I do have awesome friends :)
I consider my life adequately independent in the sense that I do not depend on my family. (I haven’t lived with them full-time since I was fifteen, or at all since I was nineteen.) There’s an important limit to how independent I can be when I don’t drive, though, so I find it valuable to be among people; I may as well enjoy the largesse available under that circumstance. (Current roommate doesn’t drive either but has a close friend who does and helps out.)
I don’t know if I’m actually in a better financial situation than I would have been without this string of fortuitous circumstances. My income is vastly greater than my expenses, but my expenses are almost nil, so said income… is tiny. I’d need to get a job-job and keep it if I were paying for rent and food on my own, and might have more leftover cash that way than I do now. However, I have lots and lots of low-stress free time, which is very valuable to me.
If I valued my spare time more, I might have more of it… Instead, my life consists of running from one part time job to the other to school to choir practice, and basically collapsing in bed at the end of the day. Once in a while I wonder if it’s possible to permanently damage your creativity with enough sleep deprivation, but then I stay up half the night writing, which answers that question. I would probably enjoy all the things I do more (and do them better) if I did less of them...but choosing school over work isn’t an option, and I have a “loyalty problem”: once I join something, it becomes really hard for me to leave. (Which is why I’m still in a girls’ church choir, 5 years later.)
Ack, that might be a case of the candle burning twice as bright but less than half as long, resulting in a loss in net light emitted.
In other words, forcing yourself to do creative work while also sleep deprived might be burning yourself out faster than if you got more sleep.
If only it were a matter of forcing myself...then I could decide not to, and get sleep! Usually if I stay up all night, it’s because I’ve been itching to work on a particular story all week and haven’t had time and am going insane from pent-up ideas.
Maybe if you just noted down the ideas so you could go back to them later?
I do sometimes. But when my brain looks at the week ahead and sees a solidly filled schedule, it oftens decides “screw it, if I don’t do this now I’ll never have the opportunity.” Also, I have creative and non-creative moods, and if I don’t write while in a creative mood, I often lose out on the chance.
I tried to do way to much throughout high school; studying cello, working with my dad and at a part time job, and then spending most of the night programming, and once I graduated and finished the projects I was working on I lost the enthusiasm to start anything else for almost a year.
Sometimes forcing yourself to just do less things and get at least eight hours a day of sleep is the best decision, even if you hate it and lie awake thinking of everything else you could be doing for the entire time. Its better than turning into a world weary introverted otaku. :p