satisfying my needs is happiness. simplify: skip the bars and the drama, ditch the time-sucking girlfriends – and the time-sucking guys, too, quit the day job, learn to cook "peasant food" from every part of the world. within two months of making the above changes, i went from spending to saving, eating better, coding better, and playing better.

Then there are some seasonal things that increase my joy:

Winter through spring * average five hours of snowboarding a day * average five hours of programming a day

Summer through fall * average five hours of surfing, kayaking, hiking, and/or fishing a day * average five hours of programming a day

I try to block my days into ten hours of activity. Figure eight hours of sleep a night, that leaves me with six hours I can spend however I want. Some of that gets used up getting to snow and surf spots, or (blech) on-site, but a lot of it is spent doing small things that lead to happiness: such as yard work, house cleaning, chatting with neighbors, teaching my old dog new tricks, strolling, making music alone or with others.