This year I’ve been trying to re-acquaint myself with some screen free hobbies.
I love working online but it’s important to give your eyes a rest and try something offline. My friend Carly is obsessed with crochet but I’m not that crafty.
I wanted to try something simple that I could do at home without investing too much (you know, in case I didn’t keep it up). I tried drawing and that was ok but I have really embraced reading. I loved reading as a kid and enjoy reading for business but haven’t read for pleasure in a very long time.
I joined my local library and now have a stack of books on my bedside table. I’ve read more books in 2016 than in the last 10 years combined.
A few I’d definitely recommend are:
- Modern Romance by Aziz Ansari – Funny perspective on love and modern dating rituals. Great research combined with a brilliant comedic voice.
- Wild by Cheryl Strayed – An autobiographical book about a painful part of Cheryl’s life then proves you can push yourself beyond your limits.
- The life changing magic of not giving a fuck – While I enjoyed Marie Kondo’s original tome (and my drawers are still organised vertically) I found Sarah Knight’s version so refreshing and honest. Women give too many fucks about things that are not important. One of the best self help books around.
- Love Style Life by Garance Dore – I love supporting bloggers and I bought this rather than borrowing it. It’s an easy style guide with moments of truth, realness and honesty.
Another book I enjoyed but that I’ll save you the time of reading is The One Thing by Gary Keller with Jay Papasan. It’s a book with a beautiful and singular concept that multitasking doesn’t work. There’s over 240 pages to prove that you need to pick one thing at a time to focus on.
For many people, it’s hard to hear but I know it works.
I combine this theory with Todd Herman’s 90 Day Year to set a single 12 week goal. You can build a new habit and make real change in this period which you can build on in the next 12 weeks. This is game changing work flow.
Read anything good lately?