NEVER ENOUGH TIIIIMME

The funny thing about time is that it only goes in one direction and it goes faster and faster as you age. What at first seems like a broad, deep, slowly meandering river becomes a narrow, fast flowing, gushing torrent the older you get: there's just never enough time to get everything done!

The feeling that time speeds up is of course a trick of our brains, because of the way they develop: when you're younger you know nothing and so you notice everything! All those small details, every second ticks by heavily… But after your brain has been around a while it learns not to notice as much, it learns to filter out the meaningless repetitive things that happen all the time and only pays attention to the bigger things, so this creates the effect of seemingly compressed time. It's really that simple. Your brain just gets better at reality. :)
This is also why kids get bored more easily while adults don't. But if your brain DID notice every second the way a child's does, you would go out of your head at the tedium of it all (this does in fact happen, there are people with bairn defects that experience this).

But that illusion of rushing time doesn't help you get things done faster!
There's a great thread in the forums by mks_monsters about your hobbies :
- http://www.theduckwebcomics.com/forum/topic/177747/
Doing comics, both writing and artwork, certainly takes up a whole lot of time! As do all the other hobbies and interests people mention in that thread. How do you find the time?

It's often a really hard balance between things like work, family, friends, study, recreation, chores etc, but I find that creative pursuits are more demanding of time than anything else you elect to do: You often can't just drop everything and pick up where you left off with creative projects (unless it's your job and you HAVE to). Creative projects often require a lot of preparation to get started, and even when you're already set up to do them right away and you have a free moment to work away from interruption or interference you still need the right inspiration or the right feeling to get going or it just won't work… which can swallow up even MORE time!

When we're younger all that is a bit easier, we're better at the hyper focus we need to get things done, we don't have as many responsibilities to work around and even when we do we're better at slotting things in and stealing time from the other things we should be doing: avoiding work on our studies, avoiding friends, cutting into sleep…
When you're older you can't focus as easily and you can't take time away from those other things you need to do- you need to work, you don't see your friends often so you can't blow them off, and sleep is an essential commodity!

I once thought that if we could do without sleep we'd add whole third to our working and creative lives… But I don't think it works that way at all. If you cut out sleep you just live 1/3 less. :/
For me the major draws on my time are work, doing art, making comics, managing Drunk Duck, and meeting friends. I fit everything else around that.

There are so many things you want and need to get done. How do you find the time? What's a good balance?
And do you find it easier or harder to do as you get older? I know a lot of people with families find it almost impossible!

BTW- it's Friday the 13th! Ooooooh, scary!!!! I have to do my taxes… D: