The EvE Ratio
Everything with measure
Have you ever thought your day was a complete mess and like It left you with less desire to live than when you started It? Well, It surely has happened to all of us, and we quickly tend to bounce off It, though what happens when this is what you think everyday? Well, the first thing you should do, even If you don't want It, is to assess every activity you have done to realize where the causes of your distress might be found. Maybe you went to a job you don't like and when you came back you spent all your afternoon playing videogames, which left you emotionally drained and without a real source of entertainment. Sadly, this is a problematic that day by day gets increasingly more prominent, where people replace meaningful habits that they find really fun and are benefitial at the same time for low level activities like binge watching series or scrolling through social media. Well, that's why in this article I will talk to you about a tool you can use in your day to day to figure out what activities are you putting the most priority to, the EvE Ratio, and how you can use It to make your life better. Let's begin:
What is the EvE Ratio?
The EvE Ratio or Education versus Entertainment Ratio is a term coined by the entrepeneur Brian Tracy to describe the amount of time and money people usually spend in Entertainment compared with education, coming to realize by this metric that the average person usually has a ratio of 50:1, meaning that they spend 50 minutes of ther day in entertainment for every minute spent on education, work or personal growth.
This is a reality in the modern day, and you might feel like you're spending too much time in entertainment compared to your growth as a person. That's why I will also present you with a series of strategies you can use to increase your time of education and reduce also the hours you dedicate to distractions:
Start Little and Increase Gradually
I'm not saying that you should drastically cut all those habitsof procrastination and pleasure you might have built after all these years right away, though what I'm really saying Is that If you can, do so. If you find yourself unable to do this, then you can begin with baby steps, maybe taking 30 minutes from the day to read a book or do something that's really benefitial for you. Then, you can try to increase one minute of this practice every week, having at the end of the year more than 50 extra minutes for your development.
Keep the source of Distractions Away
Companies of entertainment have spent millions and millions in research to find out ways to get you hooked to their products, and that's why It is so hard to give up all those things, though sometimes the solution can be as easy as putting your phone at the other side of the room and not paying attention to It. Maybe even putting a filter or a extension in your computer to block all distractions from the media you use. In this way you'll find a great deal of your time released for your journey.
Use entertainment as a reward
Sometimes our brains get stubborn and we have to fight with them to get us to do something, but we are choosing the wrong approach. The best thing you can do to make you advance is to learn to negotiate with yourself in positive terms. If you promise yourself that you'll get an Ice Cream after you finish a difficult tasks, you'll surely put yourself at work right away. However, I'm reminding you, that entertainment in this case should only be used as a prize for doing the right thing.
I hope that this article could have served as a guide to you for this beautiful method called the EvE ratio showing ways to increase the time spent in meaningful activities and decrease the usage of cheap entertainment, so I encourage you to find out what's your actual ratio in order to know where you want to head to reach a healthy balance in your life. Thank you for your support and good luck!