---
title: "On spending time - #349"
description: For the reading this week, we have two interesting essays on spending time. Enjoy!
---

[Nathanael Yellis's Blog: technology consulting, digital strategy, marketing, simplicity, and more. ](https://www.yell.is/blog)

# [On spending time - #349](https://www.yell.is/blog/on-spending-time-349)

 Written by [Nathanael Yellis](https://www.yell.is/blog/author/nathanael-yellis) | September, 1 2023

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I've been a train commuter during the second half of this summer. First due to real construction in the basement; then due to reconstruction (and finally finishing?) the basement office. When I time it just right, the train and bike will take an hour each way. Commutes are a top driver of unhappiness, according to the social scientists, and it's not hard to see why: knowing you'll hand over two of your sixteen waking hours to repetitive travel isn't a good start to the day. While my train and bike are on the easier (and prettier) side of a Boston commute, I still end up, all those hours later, right where I started.Beyond the revolving nature of the time spent, the two hours are often time lost: I've been back on podcasts and music listening and Twitter. Opening the day in a frenetic tapping and scrolling for information sets me up for a day of lost focus. It got so bad earlier this week that I left the office for a midday walk. Having made no progress on some creative work, I put the challenge in my mind, left all devices behind, and walked around East Cambridge for a half hour. Musing on the challenge while moving, unaided by devices, helped. Upon returning to my desk, I immediately wrote a two page outline and then crafted the slide deck. Within an hour and a half of leaving my desk, walking time included, my part of the project was done.

On the other hand, the commute does change my end-of-day momentum: I've never been as productive between 2 and 4 p.m. as I am when trying to catch the 4:35 train home. There's nothing like a real time constraint to sharpen one's attention to the task at hand. You spend time differently when you have a destination.

For the reading this week, we have two interesting essays on spending time. Enjoy!

 

### Reading

| ### Filling Time Filling Minds Recently, as my husband had just finished backing out of our driveway with our four-year-old in the car, she suddenly piped up with her little voice: "daddy, can I watch that movie again?" [frontporchrepublic.com](https://www.frontporchrepublic.com/2023/07/filling-time-filling-minds/?utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email) |  |
| --- | --- |

 

| ### Talking to Strangers When I was a little girl, people often told me not to talk to strangers. [hearthandfield.com](https://hearthandfield.com/talking-to-strangers/?utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email) |  |
| --- | --- |

 

[View full post](https://www.yell.is/blog/on-spending-time-349)

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