Prof. Stuart was right. He explained to me once how he was able to use almost any free amount of time, as short as 20 minutes, to work on a project. He said too many colleagues believed it had to be the other way: to be productive one must have large blocks of free time.
It’s not just that I am in the latter camp, but I realize now how foolish it is. My entire life I’ve used this as an excuse for why I haven’t achieved much. Which is another way of saying I never really wanted to achieve it. Instead, I was happier to say, if I can’t have the time I (stupidly think I) need I may as well waste it.