Sahil Bloom Profile picture
Jun 11 12 tweets 4 min read Twitter logo Read on Twitter
I recently came across data on how we spend our time over the course of our lives.

The insights are simultaneously inspiring and depressing.

Here are 6 graphs everyone needs to see: Image
Time Spent With Parents & Siblings

Peaks in childhood and declines after age 20.

Lesson: Prioritize and cherish every moment. Image
Time Spent With Friends

Peaks at age 18 and declines sharply to a low baseline.

Lesson: Invest your energy in the healthy, meaningful friendships that last. Image
Time Spent With Partner

Trends upwards until death.

Lesson: Never settle for less than love. Image
Time Spent With Children

Peaks in your 30s and declines sharply thereafter.

Lesson: Slow down and embrace the sweetness. Image
Time Spent With Coworkers

Steady during the prime working years from age 20-60.

Lesson: Find work—and coworkers—that create energy in your life. Image
Time Spent Alone

Steadily increases throughout your life.

Lesson: Find happiness and joy in the time you have to yourself. Image
How We Spend Our Time Image
If you enjoyed this, follow me @SahilBloom for more visual threads and join 400,000 others who subscribe to my newsletter (link in bio). Image
All of this data reminds me of one of my favorite sayings:

The days are long but the years are short. Image
Last summer I was on a walk with my newborn and an older man approached me.

He said:

“I remember standing here with my newborn daughter. An old man came up to me and said ‘It goes by fast, cherish it.’ Well, my daughter is 45 now. It goes by fast, cherish it.”

It hit me hard.
For those asking, the visuals in the thread were done for me by Carousel (creator-focused spin-off of Off Menu).

They’re doing all my design work with a dedicated team.

You can learn more here. workwithcarousel.com

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More from @SahilBloom

Jun 10
Confession: I am a nervous public speaker.

But I have a simple trick I use to cut the tension in the room and build momentum…

Here’s how it works: Image
Yesterday, I gave the keynote at the ConvertKit Craft & Commerce conference in Boise.

They asked me what song I wanted to enter to. They probably assumed I’d pick some upbeat pump up music.

I told them “Girl on Fire” by Alicia Keys.
They thought I was joking, but I was dead serious.

Why?

Doing something unexpected and funny early in a talk immediately cuts the anxiety and tension in the room.

When I entered to that song, I had a built in joke!
Read 9 tweets
Jun 9
Benjamin Franklin’s daily routine was fascinating… Image
2 simple questions framed his entire day:

Morning: What good shall I do this day?

Evening: What good have I done this day?

These "Clarity Questions" cut through the noise and force a distillation of the day.

I love the idea of having questions like this as part of a routine.
My Clarity Questions are:

Morning: What three wins will I have today?

Evening: Did I achieve my three wins?

Before Bed: What three things am I grateful for?

Pick your Clarity Questions and keep them visible throughout the day until answering them becomes part of your ritual.
Read 9 tweets
Jun 7
A simple question that may transform your relationships.

Helped, Heard, or Hugged: Image
Confession: I'm a recovering fixer.

When people come to me with problems, my bias is to try to fix them.

This is (mostly) good in a professional context, but when you bring this bias into your relationships, the results can be decidedly mixed.
What I came to realize: Sometimes, people don't want you to fix it. They just want you to be there.

Helped, Heard, or Hugged lets you give the other person what they need in a situation.

I first read about it in a NYT Well article and have used it since.

Here's how it works: Image
Read 9 tweets
Jun 6
Social media is a drug designed to make you wish you were somewhere else, doing something else, with someone else.

Don’t fall into the comparison trap.

Embrace the positive, valuable people and ideas you can follow.

Reject anything that makes you feel you’re not enough.
You get to choose what you let into your mental and physical environment.

Are you consistently consuming content from people that makes you feel envy or jealousy?

Stop. Unfollow them.

Replace it with things that create energy. Your entire world will change.
The “Instagram vs. Reality” meme is quite accurate:

The perfect image that you see is rarely a reflection of reality.

The idyllic photo of the person with the floating tray of fruit in an infinity pool in Bali was actually taken between rounds of crazed bird and monkey attacks.
Read 5 tweets
Jun 4
A simple mental trick I find helpful:

When I catch myself feeling anxious, I invert the negative thought.

“What if this doesn’t work?” becomes “What if this works?”

“What if I come up short?” becomes “What if I exceed my wildest expectations?”

Stops negativity in its tracks.
My logic:

I find that anxious, worried, or negative thoughts tend to multiply rapidly and consume my headspace.

When they do, it becomes a slower process to push them out.

Cutting them down at first sight is the one thing that has consistently worked for me.
“The body tends to revert to a state of equilibrium with its environment...if living things didn’t work actively to prevent it, they would eventually merge into their surroundings.” - The Blind Watchmaker

You may have to work to avoid merging into negative surroundings.
Read 5 tweets
Jun 3
Life “cheat codes” everyone should know.

1. Never think twice about investments in yourself.

(a visual thread) Image
2. When you think something nice about someone, let them know.

3. Put your alarm clock in the bathroom.

4. To improve at anything, do it 30 min per day for 30 straight days.

5. Hire a writer to document your parents’ stories.

6. Write 3 things you’re grateful for every night. Image
7. Go for a 15 minute walk every morning.

8. Pursue the larger luck surface area.

9. Tell your partner one thing you appreciate about them daily.

10. Do things you’ll be excited to tell your kids about.

11. Spend 15 minutes in the evening preparing for the next morning. Image
Read 19 tweets

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