My therapist said there was a scarcity model and an abundance model. I couldn't find a lot about it that wasn't sort of Oprahesque. Obviously if a resource is, objectively, scarce, then the scarcity model will be in effect no matter what our desire to think differently about it.
We think of time as a resource. (Time is money.) We use it, waste it, use it efficiently or not. It is exchanged for money in various ways (labor). A feeling of scarcity is not inconsistent with the misuse of time (procrastination?).
What would an alternative to the scarcity model look like? No clocks or timers, in the first place. You can get up any reasonable time without an alarm, go to sleep when tired. Work would get done without thought to exact quantities. There would be more flow-like states of concentration.
How would I achieve this for myself? I probably wouldn't, but it would be nice to imagine. First, reduce internet and facebook. Keep the blogging, but not check to see if there are comments until I write the next post. I already have my life organized so there is little or no commuting, house work is small because I have an apartment, and do yard work for someone else only once a week if that. I have no "tenure clock" any more and can do what I want when not teaching or grading.
If it is difficult for me, then it will be even more difficult for someone not in my privileged position. I cannot advise, but I wish I had rejected the scarcity model earlier, since it doesn't fit my objective conditions of life.
1 comment:
I've been trying to do the abundancy model. I get more done because I don't try to think about how to cut corners, how to economize, which allows me to keep going.
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