The psychology of purpose

The importance of having a purpose

Purpose is an intention or objective a person has to initiate or continue something they're working on which will lead to a sense of achievement or accomplishment. It's a reason for us to get out of bed in the morning and something for us to pursue or build which can benefit us in the long term. 

I've been having a sense of inadequacy these days and a feeling that I'm wasting time. My days consist of endless social media scrolls and sleep, both which I do in bed. It feels extremely unproductive and I hate it when lying down all day doesn't feel too good. The gym closed down because of the corona situation so my exercise routine is shattered and so I started looking into the psychology of the concept of purpose and why when I'm working all I want to do is procrastinate but long terms of procrastination still doesn't feel great. 

As humans our primary objective from ancient times have been to gather food, provide shelter and raise a family and such. But as time has passed our purposes have shifted somewhat and nowadays people have jobs where they earn to essentially do the same things our ancestors did. But even from an evolutionary perspective we humans have always been creatures who actively put effort and work hard to get what we want and when we don't have a course of action or something to work towards, it ends up making us lethargic and unmotivated or worse. In 2013 the famous ex-professional soccer player, Paul Gasgoine, the most famous sportsman of this generation, has been in and out of rehab, arrested for assaulting his wife, and found staggering through the lobby of a hotel, asking strangers to buy him a drink. He having spent all his life involved with soccer has no idea what to do outside of it and that can be pretty dangerous.

My problem these days is I'm not focusing on doing anything but spending my days like I'm on vacation. It's enjoyable for a while but the binge watching gets annoying when you've spent hours in bed with bad posture. Social media even worsens the experience at times when you notice other people being productive and efficient. It doesn't help you feel better about yourself. Social media or any media of entertainment shouldn't be the sole purpose of your day, meaning you should treat it as a recreational activity and honestly, thats the only time its enjoyable because mindlessly scrolling instagram with an eye strain is not fun.

These days I've started writing the blog again because researching and learning feels productive and it is actually enjoyable to write about new things I learn and find which is fun to share. YouTube kept me occupied and purposeful before lock down but till I can see my friends I'll just be brainstorming ideas for it . I pick up the guitar occasionally too to practice a song or two. I learned to play perfect by Ed Sheeran and You are the reason by Calum Scott which feels amazing to play and sing to these days. Just the fact that I know I'm doing something that could benefit me in the future is actually rewarding at the end of the day. So if this inspires anyone to do something productive today or become more disciplined with yourself, be sure to leave a comment. Have fun being productive.