A problem I had during undergrad that continued when I started working was that I couldn’t enjoy my free time. I felt that I had to be busy else I wasting my time. Either reading ahead the next chapter or grinding more leet code, but just lazing around wasn’t quite right.

During my undergrad this lead to me burning out. To help counter this I build a budget gaming computer and just played games in the evenings, along with a change mindset that this was free time I earned, and should be enjoyed guilt free

Once I had a coping mechanism for how to enjoy my free time I had another problem, I wanted to do more than just play video games. I made a list of a bunch of things and hobbies I wanted to try, but after class, then later on work, I was too drained so I’d just sit down and play games instead. Now I had the same issue as before with a slight twist. I was enjoying my free time, but now I was guilty that I wasn’t enjoying it as much as I wanted.

While watching a video this segment best summarized how I felt and was feeling down off hours. Around the same time I listened to these two podcasts, and read this post, which put everything in perspective.

You spend a lot of your working time thinking about what you’ll do when you’re not working. Then when you’re done you’re too tired to do what you want. The first way to counter this is do it in the morning. Instead of starting your day for work and trying to fit what you want to do after. Start the day doing what you want, so as the day goes on you know that you’ve been able to do what you wanted.

The second way to counter is not doing everything at once. You might have a long list of all the things you want to try. But be realistic with your time and what you’ll be able to achieve. Just keep doing it till you’re done, then move onto the next. And done doesn’t always mean becoming good at something, sometimes just finding a point of autonomy or satisfaction is enough.

If you have a plan to just sit around and binge a show, then follow through with that plan and enjoy it. If that’s not your plan, then find out what you really want to do and do that instead.