Thoughts on Thinking

I was thinking yesterday as I drove home from dropping my bike off for its annual physical. I was thinking about how much time I spend thinking. It started because I was trying to work out what the bike tuneup would cost and how to pay for it: cash or credit. And I realized that I spend a lot of time thinking about money. Which is sad because it's not a very interesting topic. I try not to stress about money (too much) but it does take up probably an hour of head space every day. Not all at once but spread out here and there across the hours.

Then I began to ponder what else I spend time thinking about.

Diabetes is an obvious one. How am I feeling? When am I eating? What am I eating? Am I exercising? Did I exercise? And on and on. Probably, what, like two hours a day of diabetes-related thoughts?

That leaves about thirteen hours of awake time. We could talk about what my brain is doing while I sleep but that's a little more crazy and best saved for another day.

I'm at work for 8 hours a day but don't actually think about work every second of the day (who does?) so I'd say I think about work for 5 hours.

That brings us up to 9 hours (out of a possible 16)

Sports (running, cycling, swimming). I am sure I spend at least an hour a day thinking about those. What I did that day in terms of physical activity. What I'm doing the next day. When? How long? How hard? All that fun stuff. I'd actually change that to two hours because I'm usually thinking about the activity while I'm doing the activity.

The people in my life - they definitely hold a firm spot in my mind and are constantly there, keeping me company.

Food definitely takes up an hour. Not diabetes-food thoughts but just really like food kinda thoughts. What's for dinner? What am I craving? Oh, that dinner last night was delicious - is it too soon to make it again? What do we need at the grocery store? That sort of stuff.

I spend a hour a day either thinking about or writing my daily blog.

I spend an hour a day thinking about daily stuff. Like calling my parents, booking appointments, planning the weekend etc etc.

That leaves about two hours which, I would argue, I spend in conversation about things other than what I just mentioned. And, since I like to focus on the conversation rather than let my mind wander, I would argue that I'm thinking about conversation for entire time.

So, to sum up:

1 hour: money
2 hours: diabetes
5 hours: work
1 hour: loved ones
2 hours: physical activity (swimming, cycling, running)
1 hour: food
1 hour: Running on Carbs
1 hour: daily stuff
2 hours: fascinating conversations

Now that I've got that all figured out, I'm not sure how I feel about it. It's probably more varied and interesting than what goes on in a lot of people's heads but still, I'm sure there is room for improvement.

I'll have to think about it.