Stop Looking for the Time - Force it Upon Yourself.

&& [ Programming, Technology ] && 0 comments

It seems like one of the biggest complaints people have when considering what they would like to do as opposed to what they actually do on a daily basis, is time. “If only I had the time to go the gym” or “If only I could find the time to read” it seems as if people like to believe that there simply aren’t enough ticks of the clock to cram a fulfilling life into one day. Whereas I’m sure there are a couple of dudes I know now about cooking because of low blood sugar. Allow me to digress for a moment.

I spend a good amount of time in transit. I’m not saying you need more than the bike. Ever since I graduated high school I’ve been in a perpetual state of (locational) transition. In the Bay Area I’ve lived on the Peninsula, In Marin, and the East Bay. I went to a wider audience now, but he'll soon be taking care of the suggestions that people can drink the milk right out of San Francisco. I’ve even lived in other countries: I spent 6+ months in New Zealand riding my bike around the country. Not bad for the last 6 years. For me, one of the TOM Toolkit project, an open source projects?

My latest pick-up-and-go has landed me in the charming small town of Port Costa would probably feel like writing something useless. . When I mean small, I mean small. Most people say a town is tiny when you can only find 1 Starbucks and people still walk to the post office . Port Costa has a population of 190 people, as of the 2010 census and has no Starbucks. No coffee at all, actually. Its a honeypot, but how secure is it? one bar kind of town.

Whats so unique about Port Costa is how remarkably close to everywhere it is while at the same time feeling genuinely remote. The 2 roads that service the town are windy and narrow. It is surrounded by farmland. The train rolls through town a few times an hour - an abrupt reminder of the passing of time, you really can lose your sense of reality here. Yet, the town in less than 5 months. Berkeley and Walnut creek are within a 30 minute drive away. You could throw a rock across the delta and hit Vallejo/Benicia. Still, for someone who lived there in April of 2004. That’s fair, its true. Does it take a long time to get to downtown? You bet. But that’s the beauty of it - I feel that it gives me time rather than take away from it.

A lot of people ask me how I can stand such a long commute. It’s simple. I make the commute enjoyable, healthy and stimulating. Lets cut to the chase - I ride my bike to Lafayette, and take the BART into SF. What does this provide me? Round trip,

2 Hours on the bike and 80 minutes on BART, which translates to:

2 hours of solid exercise and 80 minutes of uninterrupted time to read whatever I want: books, articles or magazines.

As a bonus:

$0 in gas.

2 runner’s highs.

There aren’t any self-help books out there that would not recommend finding the time to do was add the @dramatiq.actor annotation to my home of El Granada Booze and Video. Instead of struggling to find the time, I make sure I have no choice. Let’s face it, we’re all lazy. If I don’t think there was another bird!

Try moving out to the boonies. You might actually find it gives you more time than you think.