Rowan Spazzoli

As we get older we have less time to do all the things we’d like to do. A significant portion of our life is allocated to working or sustaining ourselves.

And so, with the remaining portion of time we need to prioritize what we’d like to be doing. We do this by trying to allocate the time to what is most important to us.

Is your hobby your most important thing? Or your friends? Or your partner? Or even more work?

It’s okay to choose where you’d like to spend your time. If everything is equally important to you, you can split your time evenly and try and maintain a balance.

But if you decide to neglect some aspects of your life, they will fade.

If you focus exclusively on your work and partner, your friendships will die. And if you dedicate yourself to your hobbies and interests, there may be less room for a career.

You can choose any allocation you want. Just understand what the impact of this choice is.

Image is from Newlands forest

Blog: 299/365. Click here to read about my #365of25 journey

Song of the day: Illenium - Where'd you go

Today’s post is about how to get a company to listen to you, whether it’s for a job application or a business deal. As Melvyn Lubega says, it’s about starting at the top:

Yesterday, my senior on a project paused for a moment to talk about the vision for the project. The potential impact it could have, the policy it could inform.

By taking a moment to remind me of the vision, I was re-energized to get to the end of the project.

Now I know I’m speaking in abstract terms here, because the vision for the project is confidential.

But I was inspired again. Ready to wade through the work

So when you’re lacking inspiration, don’t forget to look to the future impact of you’re doing.

Image is from my work spot at Truth coffee yesterday 🙂

Blog: 294/365. Click here to read about my #365of25 journey

Song of the day: I like me better - Lauv

We all know about the Sunday blues. They sound like the theme music from Carte Blanche and taste like day old leftovers. It feels like a weight that sits heavy on your chest, until you are released from it by a deep sleep.

One of the key reasons that we use to explain Sunday blues is that the weekend is over and that we have to work the next day.

And I can understand this if you absolutely hate your job. (In which case, you should probably get out of it)

But I think that Sunday blues are more than that. I think that they’re likely the lack of flow that comes about on a Sunday evening. 

There’s no work to do, you’ve finished all your Sunday plans and exhausted your entertainment options. Now, all that’s left is to wait for the next day.

So the solution to beating the Sunday blues is easy. Bring in other colours and find things that excite you. Have a regular event, like a Sunday dinner, or a hobby to bring you through the evening.

The reason you’re feeling blue is that you’re probably just bored. So take the opportunity to find something great to do

Image is of a rainbow, taken from our flat 🙂

Blog: 290/365. Click here to read about my #365of25 journey

Song of the day: Solomun - Kackvogel

When I sit down to write my blogs in the evening, I’m often surprised at how many of my thoughts are recurrent. There are similar ideas that pop up again and again, and I sometimes have to check that I haven’t written about them before.

Reflecting on this, I realised that much of my environment and belief system exists on a handful of concepts and thoughts. And my days are often reflective and reinforcing of these thoughts.

So based on this, there are two important things to remember. Firstly, we need to take our thoughts to first princles. We might hold on to them dearly without checking if they are founded on truth

Secondly, we need to get out of our echo chambers as much as we can. To understand what’s going on outside of our bumble, and update our understanding accordingly.

There’s nothing wrong with having recurrent thoughts and philosophies. Just unpack them every now and again to see if they’re still valid 🙂

Image was taken in the canals at the Cape Town conference centre

Blog: 289/365. Click here to read about my #365of25 journey

Song of the day: Rudemental et al. - These days

I know I’ve written a post very similar to this one before. But it still astounds me how many great things I get to work on and do.

Today was a fairly “ordinary” day, and comprised of:

• Advising a new tech startup: I’m working with two students that I’ve lectured this year to build an exciting new startup
• Working on early childhood development: a consultancy has approached me for help in evaluating the behavioral impact of new apps on child literacy
• Learning more about behavioural insights (BI) units: next was a lunchtime seminar from a consultancy that works on behavioural economics projects
  
• Rounding up the greentech strategy project: did a bit of work on the final version of our strategy for the special economic zone
  
• Supporting the expansion of a logistics company: helping them design their marketing and administrative processes for the busy season
  

And after this, I spent the afternoon with my mom, which included a little boat cruise and drinks at the Silo hotel.

Three years ago, I would never have imagined a day like this in my wildest dreams.

And today it was a very normal reality

Image was taken at the Silo 🙂

Blog: 288/365. Click here to read about my #365of25 journey

Song of the day: Suzanne Vega - Toms Diner