it is well understood that spending time in activities that degrade or corrupt us is to be avoided by all means. Vices and addictions are placed in this category.
But there are other categories of traps in this game. Some look modest and harmless, but their recurrence harms us.
They lie on a spectrum and adjacent differences can be nuanced. We find them in our personal and professional lives.
- activities that ultimately devolve in envy, avarice, or psychological parsimony. For example, excess of happy hours, Thursday night poker, finding/sharing “ultimate” truths in social media.
- activities that fatigue the mind or the body, without making it stronger. For example, YouTube binging, indulging in pickleball or padel, , visiting a therapist.
- the ambition of petty accomplishments, in which we believe we’re advancing, but a wiser perspective offers the opposite diagnosis. For example, active portfolio management, perfect productivity systems, specialized diets, personal budgeting.
That last one is the most insidious. Caveat imperator.