Simplify

I love hockey. I mean I really love hockey. Last winter Olympics, I spent three weeks in a row watching hockey until 3am so I could watch every minute of every game (thank you Tivo!). Having gone a year without cable, this is the first NHL playoffs that I’ll be going without TV. This is good and bad.

The good part means I won’t be watching every minute of every series. Yes, I’m saying that’s a good thing. Even though part of me can’t believe I just typed that sentence. But frankly, I have way too much going on to spend several hours every day watching hockey.

So instead, I’m going to every Sharks home game. This is bad. (Who am I?). No really, it’s bad for my wallet. But then again, I have a job and why else do I convince myself to go to work every day.

Okay, this matter is clearly more complex than good and bad. Let’s get back to the basics. I love hockey. Go Sharks!!

I live one and a half miles from my office. I usually ride my bicycle. But recently, due to a knee injury, I’ve been walking. I have found it’s a great way to start my day.

Walking is slow. It gives me time to observe my surroundings, think about the day ahead of me and enjoy the current moment, all at the same time. It’s hard to be stressed out while walking. At least for me, the act of walking is calming.

I realize that not everyone lives close enough to work to walk. But everyone can walk somewhere - even if it is just around the block. Next time you are stressed out and need a break, take a walk.

Technology is great. I live in Silicon Valley and work in the Internet industry. I love what I do and I love the wealth of information available at my fingertips at any moment in time. But the wealth of information is also a burden. I like many Silicon Valley residents, read far too many blogs, spend far too many hours a day checking email, come home from a long day sitting in front of the computer only to spend the evening surfing the web or equally bad, veg out in front of the TV. Over the Thanksgiving break, I decided to simplify my life by using technology to reduce the noise instead of increasing it.

I’ll be evaluating all inputs from my email inbox, my rss feeds, the social networks I check, the tv that I watch, the snail mail that gets my attention, to how I use IM and even the meetings that I attend at work. The goal being to free up my time for the things I really care about. I’ll be blogging about both what I cut out and what I replace it with. It will be an adventure.