What I Learned in Two Weeks in a New City
Edition - 011
Welcome to The Obsession, glad you’re here.
What I’ve learned living two weeks in a new city, in a new job.
Two weeks ago I moved from Atlanta to Los Angeles to take a promotional opportunity. And during this transition I’ve been thinking a lot about one thing:
how I’m spending my time.
The older you get, it always feels like the answer is “do more.”
Do more work. Spend more time with family. Get more sleep. Work out more. Build more. Create more. Stay consistent. Improve everything.
But time doesn’t expand just because your standards do.
This move has forced me to look at my routines more clearly. And it made me realize there are a few things that feel like actual good uses of time, not just “busy,” but meaningful.
Here are three that have stood out to me:
1) Reading
It’s easy to default to consuming content. Scroll, videos, clips, noise.
Reading feels different.
It’s focused. It’s slower. And I think it’s one of the highest return uses of time you can have. When I look at successful people, there’s one theme that keeps showing up: they read. Even Bill Gates has an entire site, Gates Notes, dedicated to what he’s reading. That says a lot.
A goal of mine this year was to read more, but really what I mean is to build the habit early, especially in the first 90 days of the year.
Over the last 45 days I’ve tried to read two pages a day. Some days I read more. Some days I read none. But I’ve noticed two things:
First, it’s become easier to pick up the book. It feels less demanding.
Second, I’m reading more days per week than when I started, and usually more pages.
Start small, and let consistency do what motivation can’t.
2) Cooking
If you work a corporate job, you probably don’t build many things with your hands.
Cooking has started to scratch that itch for me.
It’s time spent in the process, focused, hands on, and creating something real. And the best part is that it produces something you can share with other people. It turns a normal night into something a little more meaningful.
I used to dread cooking. Now I’ve found a new love for it. Not because I’m trying to be a chef just because it feels like time well spent.
3) Journaling
I’m a huge advocate for journaling. It doesn’t have to be every day, and it looks different for everyone. But the way I see it, journaling is time set aside to reflect.
And reflection matters because it’s one of only two ways we really grow the other being volume.
You can do reps, take meetings, train harder, work more, that’s volume. But without reflection, you end up repeating the same patterns.
Journaling forces you to slow down and ask:
• What can I do differently?
• What should I do more of?
• What’s working that I should keep the same?
Then you can go back later and see how you’ve changed over time, how you were thinking, what you were feeling, what you were focused on.
I truly think journaling can change your life. Not because it’s deep, but because it creates space to think.
I could go way deeper on each of these, but if you’re wondering what a good use of time looks like, I’ve found that reading, cooking, and journaling are three simple habits that actually give something back.
The Weekly 3
1) One Question I Asked Myself
What am I doing with my time that feels productive… but isn’t actually moving me forward?
2) One Idea That Shifted Me
You don’t find time, you choose what deserves it.
3) One Challenge to Take Into Your Week
Pick one of the three (reading, cooking, journaling) and do it three times this week. Keep it small. The goal is to build the habit, not overhaul your life.
