Uninterrupted Hours

One doesn't stumble into greatness.
Everything great takes solid effort.
And effort takes hours.

But where do you find those hours?

The human schedule is full of things that keep us away from putting in those hours.
Eat, exercise, hygiene, social, mental well-being, you name it.

A usual day (at best) in most of my software engineer friends' lives.

When I was in 11th and 12th grade, my parents made it possible for me to just study, and care for nothing else in the world. Those were the years I put in the most hours to a discipline than I ever have.

There was no concept of study life balance. That study life balance was to come after 2 years of this solid grind once you got admitted to a top tier university. Until then, weekdays meant school all day and study all evening. Weekends meant study all day and study all night.

And I miss that.

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The reason most of us never get to put in any solid effort, raw hours, in pursuit of getting really good at something is because humans and society are just not designed to give humans those hours.

If you're trying to find time throughout the day to work, a slot here, an hour there, a quick 30 minute before the next call - how are you going to produce anything of value that way.

So, my solution?

• Accept that even an hour of uninterrupted effort a day is golden.
• Find a way to maximize those uninterrupted hours.