A mindset I've struggled with since college is that if I'm not being productive then I'm wasting my time. I thought that mindset would go away once I graduated but I feel like it has made a comeback, especially with the rise of AI in our everyday lives and supposedly making us a lot more productive. Sometimes when I'm chilling around and relaxing, I randomly get a thought that I'm wasting my time because I'm not catching up on the most recent programming languages and frameworks and then I feel bad about it when in reality, I shouldn't feel bad!

A lot of my hobbies that I've taken up have helped me with disconnecting from this mindset and helped me with realizing that life isn't just a ride in the fast lane, 24/7. It's okay to kick back and enjoy life and not be constantly in-the-know and constantly be productive.

I enjoy cycling a lot and I think I do that in the most unproductive manner since my favorite bike to ride is my fixed-gear bike so I constantly have to pedal! Most of the time, I'm not trying to be fast or break PRs, I'm just enjoying being outside and enjoying the sun and the wind. I can't recall a bike ride, especially on long bike rides, where I'm thinking, "Man, I'm wasting my time." I'm just having a great time spinning my two wheels and I think that's just so fun.

So let this be a note to myself: it is not a waste of time to not be productive.