Voluntary Restriction is Not a Bad Thing

A couple of month ago, my trusty Apple laptop failed. It was over five years old, and served me well. While I have access to a nice desktop, I was very used to the feeling of connectedness that my laptop would provide.

I first thought that I needed to procure a new one. After some research, I figured that a refurbished Macbook would due the trick. It doesn’t have to be top of the line; I just want something to bang out a few lines of code here or there.

But I couldn’t click the checkout button. $1100 is a serious amount of money to me, sure, but there was something else. Did I even need it? I mean, really – developing small, personal pieces of software is fun and all that, but what about the baggage that comes around with the laptop itself?

Even though I take care to regularly clean out my RSS reader and empty my inbox, I still wasted an amazing amount of time on the net. Having a web browser on my lap certainly contributed to that, and thought that perhaps it was time I further engage, Yama – the first limb of Yoga.

Yama is simply self-imposed constraints. By restricting yourself, you save energy that may be better spent elsewhere. If I make it harder for me to meander on the interwebs, what would I do with that reclaimed energy?

Well, I did decide to put it to the test, and am so far please with the results. For starters, I have begun a 3 mile-a-day jogging routine and am reading more. Even with this, I occasionally find myself feeling a little bored. I’ll have to find another creative outlet to pour that energy into.

I still check my email a few times a day, and find that yes, the digital world is doing just fine without my constant presence. The time that I do spend at the keyboard is more focused, and will hopefully lead to more inspired writing, more concise coding, and other creative endeavors.