There is a bright orange sticker in the stairwell of the garage that I walk through to get to work each day. It looks like it’s been ripped off some larger, neon-orange, sticky surface. It’s not a large sticker, but in the largest capital letters that will all fit on that small surface it says, “DON’T POSTPONE JOY.” I have usually forgotten that I saw it by the time I get up to work, and when I leave work, I usually forget that I have seen it again by the time I arrive at my car. Still, every time I walk up that staircase and that orange beacon catches my eye, I think it was put there just for me. It reminds me, as I’d like to remind you, that your time really is your own and sometimes you should do the things you think are irresponsible. You need to stay up till 3AM to watch a meteor shower, go night swimming in the freezing Atlantic with your college friends or allow yourself to fall in love in three days flat. These are the things that you will remember, in part because they were fun, but also because they don’t belong to your routine. I know that none of these distractions are likely to help you get more organized–but saneaty is not just being able to put things in the right place. It’s about life optimization.
So thank you, anonymous staircase befouler, for reminding me of one of the most important lessons I may ever learn: Don’t postpone joy.
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