Until I consciously decided to stop using my smartphone to keep myself amused when I became bored, I didn't realize just how much of my life consists of waiting. Waiting in line, or waiting for a bus, or waiting until something opens so I can enter. I can't clearly remember now what it felt like to be without a smartphone and simply wait for things without the ability to effortlessly distract myself. I've taken to carrying around a book with me, but this in itself is a frustration. For instance, I just started reading Volume 3 of Capital, which is a thousand pages long; not exactly the sort of book you want to carry around with you all day. So instead I take a small book, typically a philosophy text published by Hackett. Much easier to carry, but now I'm reading two books at a time, which I don't like because my preference is to focus on one until it's finished. Every decision ends up requiring a compromise in some form or another.
