[poledaddy]

Like a lot of guys here, I’ve got a ton of shit going on and am always looking to maximize the hours in the day - solid full time corporate job, a growing location-independent side business, lifting, martial arts, language learning, etc. For obvious reasons, I’ve cut out most TV with one exception - while cooking, and eating.

I hate to sound like a typical ADD American, but I get bored while cooking/eating in total silence and like to have something on. But most TV sucks - tons of commercials and shitty IQ-draining programming. On the flip side, I hate when I get “sucked into” good stuff that’s on - typically it’s some kind of documentary on the history channel or CNBC, etc. So what should have been a 30-45 minute dinner break before going back to getting shit done, on a regular basis ends up getting rationalized to 2 hours stuck on the couch. Not cool.

For those of you who are entrepreneurs or living a busy life and hardcore into getting the most out of your day, I’m curious what your routine is for your typical weekday meals when cooking/eating by yourself. Do you read books? Listen to podcasts? Watch shit online? What kinds of content do you usually consume when eating?

I’ve been wary of having a computer or smartphone around my dining/kitchen area due to spill risk around expensive electronics, touching keys/screens when I’ve been handling food, etc, but I’m going to have to get over that since there’s obviously much more options available there than with TV.

I know this is a 1st world problem, but if I'm going to continue building a business and get to location independence, I need to get dead serious about being productive, and I know I could use improvement around this area of my daily routine. So for those of you who are a) busy as shit and b) prepare your own meals, what else are you usually doing while you are cooking/eating?

[CaliforniaSupreme]

I always have CNN on the tv, I watch that usually. If I can, I try to multitask and get work done while eating. If you're distracted by the TV, you could always set the sleep timer on the TV and put the remote away, and get up when it turns off.

[calculus]

Just put on some music and enjoy your food. Resting your mind leads to more productivity when you work.

[Giovonny]

Music or Podcasts while cooking. Cooking shows while eating.

[Gopher]

(10-20-2013 08:37 PM)calculus Wrote:  

Just put on some music and enjoy your food. Resting your mind leads to more productivity when you work.

Yea, music. Sometimes ill listen to NPR on the radio. My television never gets turned on unless Im watching a dvd.

[PompeyChris]

I always have something on. It has been to be positive and help me grow as a person.

At the moment it is content from The Freelance Writers Den.

A lot of the time it is Elliot Hulse:

Could either be his strengthcamp channel or the above.

Or sometimes, when I need it, a motivational video:

Chris.

[ASOT]

I pull out my phone and use duolingo to learn my second language. Between breakfast and dinner it lets me get one or two extra lessons per day in. Otherwise I'll put music on.

[Mage]

I like to watch movies, read internet or books while I eat. But these are bad habits that I try to minimize.

It is better to do nothing else while eating. This way the food nourishes you better and satiates you faster. The mind body connection is a powerful force. I bet that one of the reasons for high obesity rates is that people are always in the hurry and always want to multitask.

During starvation times people who eat the little food they have slowly survive. Those who hump and swallow fast die.

Food must be chewed long and swallowed slowly and you should get intimate with your food. It would be wise to listen to your body while eating as it helps to distinguish what foods are good for you and what are bad, to understand your deficiencies and your excesses.

Many fast foods are tasty when you eat them in a hurry but quickly start to taste like shit they are when you take the time to chew them properly. Many healthy organic foods reveal their true taste when you take time to savoir them and extract everything you can from them in your mouth before swallowing.

It's good to visualize how the healthy food you eat nourishes you and makes you stronger, because it really does it better if your mind participates. Many ancient religions see eating as a sacred act - sacrificing food to God. And like we in manosphere tend to rediscover - ancient religious people got a lot of things right it doesn't stop just with strict gender roles. And it really is so with "God" being you, eating fast is a sacrilege against yourself.

Concentrate on nothing but eating and take your time while eating and you will be more healthy and will need to eat less, thus becoming both more effective and more happy in the end.

[poledaddy]

Cool ideas from everyone. I view it as time of the day to decompress so I think I'm going to focus on lighter podcasts like Bill Burr, Joe Rogan, pandora comedy stations etc and go cold turkey on TV for the next week and see how it goes. For me Bill Burr is ideal because he's funny and red-pill friendly, but it's rare that what he's talking about is so engrossing that I'm not going to be able to get up and walk away once I'm done eating.

I also think there might be some wisdom around the idea of just taking 30-60 min to calm down and focusing on enjoying my food, along the lines that Mage brought up, so I'm going to experiment with that too.

[Wreckingball]

While at work, i put on the 24kitchen channel so I can learn a few things. because i look at the tv, i eat slower.
At home it's just me, the plate and cuttlery, perhaps with some radio once in a rare while.

[Hades]

I like to stare into space, think about my day, or talk with a coworker. If it's a very large meal I like to light up a cigarette halfway through (for example, while grilling five pounds of beef ribs). Food and mealtimes are a way to reward yourself from all the hard work you just got done doing. Nobody ever got shit done while eating anyway.

[Harvey Specter]

(10-20-2013 07:11 PM)CaliforniaSupreme Wrote:  

I always have CNN on the tv, I watch that usually. If I can, I try to multitask and get work done while eating. If you're distracted by the TV, you could always set the sleep timer on the TV and put the remote away, and get up when it turns off.

There is nothing like the biased media with a political agenda to rot your brain.

[Cyr]

(10-22-2013 05:12 AM)Hades Wrote:  

I like to stare into space, think about my day, or talk with a coworker. If it's a very large meal I like to light up a cigarette halfway through (for example, while grilling five pounds of beef ribs). Food and mealtimes are a way to reward yourself from all the hard work you just got done doing. Nobody ever got shit done while eating anyway.

Yeah theres no need to rush through a meal and try to get other stuff done. Just eat, enjoy it and then work a little harder when you're done. Anyway, always trying to do too much makes you less productive overall; you need some off time to relax and think.

[Kickb]

If I'm ar work I sit at my cubical and put my feet up on the desk and look out the windows while I eat whatever I bought.

If I'm at my house I sit at the bar and think about stuff while I eat.

Back before I was a corporate drone, I would drive around with my top down with a subway sandwich in my left hand and a coke in my right hand while listening to something like this

[Bill]

I don´t know why but I am the most motivated doing some dance training while cooking. I don´t know why. Maybe the kitchen reminds me of a Dj table unconsciously.

While eating I like to read blogs.

[Isaac Jordan]

I like listening to music while I cook. My tastes change depending on the meal for some reason...for breakfast it's always classical, but for lunch/dinner I'll put on some indie or 90s alt rock. If I'm cooking before going out I'll add in some metal in order to get myself pumped up m/

I like to read while I eat, both books and blogs. I used to watch stuff on Netflix (Breaking Bad, Walking Dead, Arrested Development, etc.) but I too got caught in the trap of finishing the meal in 15 minutes but then spending the next 45 watching TV because I felt like I had to finish the show I had started.

That's one of the things I've really enjoyed about cutting out the television. I'd frequently start watching something just to pass a few minutes' time, and then end up getting sucked in for way longer than I'd planned. With blogs or a book I can just bookmark a page and come back later.

[Mujeriego]

Use the time when you're eating to enjoy your food instead of worrying about productivity. You could get hit by a bus tomorrow, it would be a shame to have spent your last meal glazing over earnings reports.

[aphelion]

1. Open Google Chrome.
2. Click the cursor into the search box.
3. Hit 'r'. Autocomplete is now populated.
4. Arrow down to 'www.rooshvforum.network in the autocomplete.
5. Press enter.

[Teedub]

(10-24-2013 05:13 AM)aphelion Wrote:  

1. Open Google Chrome.
2. Click the cursor into the search box.
3. Hit 'r'. Autocomplete is now populated.
4. Arrow down to 'www.rooshvforum.network in the autocomplete.
5. Press enter.

If I hit "r", this forum is first. So, R and enter is all that's required due to my addiction!

[CaliforniaSupreme]

(10-22-2013 08:34 AM)Harvey Specter Wrote:  

(10-20-2013 07:11 PM)CaliforniaSupreme Wrote:  

I always have CNN on the tv, I watch that usually. If I can, I try to multitask and get work done while eating. If you're distracted by the TV, you could always set the sleep timer on the TV and put the remote away, and get up when it turns off.

There is nothing like the biased media with a political agenda to rot your brain.

I just want to know what's going on in the world, I'm not afraid of having my "brain rot." I watch Crossfire, nice seeing different opinions on the subjects.

[Cincinnatus]

I usually listen to music or a good podcast while cooking. If I have company, little or no music or TV while sharing a meal, otherwise, I'm usually watching something like Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations.

I don't feel the need to be too productive while preparing and eating food. Feeding myself is a singular task, not one of several multitask at once.