Benjamin Franklin once said, "Time is money." People value time and money more than other resources. For me, time and money are not equal; time is non-refundable, it's limited, and you can't make more of it.
In one of the previous essays, I mentioned attention as another type of resource, which is even more limited than time. The older you get, the less attention you have per day. I have three-five hours of attention per day, which I can use for deep work; unfortunately, I'm not good enough to use that time efficiently.
But there is also an emotional resource. Emotional commitment is what defines your ability to do high-quality work. It's crucial to save your emotions, or there is a risk of burnout.
I'm used to saying, "Don't rock the emotional boat." All of us have tasks we don't enjoy doing. After finishing them, it isn't easy to start doing something else. The same applies to very positive experiences. To focus on important things, you should have stable emotions—too many negative emotions is as dangerous as too many positive ones.
- Don't waste your emotions on unimportant things like social media, news, debates, etc.
- Don't try to be always positive; seek balance instead—enjoy learning from a negative experience.
- Love yourself unconditionally; your emotions are dependant on your self-esteem and self-perception.
- Delegate unpleasant work, focus on what you're good at and what you enjoy doing.
- Socialize, make sure to spend time with your friends and close ones.