Your Daily Tips
Regain Your Time With a ‘Vent Clock’
Yes, you should spew out all your frustrations. But give it a time limit.
Editor’s note: Last month, we asked for your Daily Tips — the strategies, life hacks, and bits of wisdom that have made your life better. We love reading your responses and will be featuring some of our favorites here on Forge. To share your own Daily Tip, simply publish a post on Medium with the tag MyDailyTip.
It’s human nature. When something frustrates us, angers us, or just confuses us, we vent. We complain about it to anyone who will listen. We bring it up over and over, long after the event or conversation happened.
Venting can be a healthy thing to do, but have you ever paid attention to how much time you spend doing it? Try this: For one week, keep a log of how much time you spend complaining. I guarantee your total number will astound you.
But you can get back most of that time and use it for things that are much more productive, healthy, and just plain useful. Here’s how: Give yourself permission to vent for a specific amount of time. After that, you’re done.
I call this the “vent clock.” For example, let’s say that I had a phone call this morning that really got me mad. I could let myself carry…
