I love coming up with different schemes-and here's a new one. I was thinking about the mental energy required by the different tasks of my life, and it struck me that this energy could be divided into four categories, in descending order of mental demand:
1. Contemplative energy-planning, deciding, creating, inhibiting (holding myself back from saying, doing, or thinking something), setting priorities, making transitions
2. Engagement energy-talking to other people, reading or observing with my critical faculties
3. Audience energy-watching or listening passively
4. Habit energy-mindlessly executing a habitual behavior
One conclusion: when I feel too tired to do anything except Level 3, I should probably be in bed.
To be satisfying, watching TV or checking Facebook should feel like Level 2 activities, not Level 3. Watching Homeland is a different experience from flipping through the channels. True, occasionally Level 3 is just what I'm in the mood for, but I
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