“A man who dares to waste an hour of time
has not discovered the value of his life.” —Charles Darwin
I love group rides. Riding with others is easily one of my favorite things about cycling. But sometimes time is of the essence; I need to get to an appointment and I have to ‘attack the pack’ & finish the ride sooner. This goes for for meetings too ; )
I was reminded of my sensitivity to how I spend my time came when I read what Shane wrote about
The Shortness of Time on Farnam Street Blog. He wrote:
Time is one of the most under-appreciated models that we all encounter, and yet it’s the most ubiquitous. When employed correctly, wise use of time becomes an amplifier of our life satisfaction. When spent without consideration, it becomes a persistent source of regret.
His 4 examples of how we misunderstand time?
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Productivity. We actually don’t want to be more productive. What we really want is more time. Even when we find ways to work more efficiently, we simply layer on more work. 😩
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Investing in learning. The upfront costs are real and visible and, like any investment, the future payoff is uncertain. So we tend to skim the surface. Shane’s post explains why this is a true waste of time. 😫
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Relationships. We’re often too “busy” to spend time with the ones we care about. Whether is the parent sending work emails while their kids play on the playground or the Millennial too busy to visit their parents, they later wish for more time… 😕
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Meetings. Meetings are a big part of how I earn a living. For many people, meetings are poorly organized and poorly run. Lacking an agenda or decision = a giant waste of time. 😑
How many of these are you guilty of? What can you do to improve?
As always, thank you for reading!
with appreciation,
Jon
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