“People are frugal in guarding their personal property; but as soon as it comes to squandering time, they are most wasteful of the one thing it is right to be stingy.”
Seneca
I recently did an exercise where I kept a time journal and recorded every task or moment I spent in a given day. I thought I was pretty disciplined with my use of time, but I was still amazed at how much margin I was letting slip through the cracks without really understanding the impact, or lack thereof, for every moment spent in a day. I conservatively estimated I could get one hour back each day by eliminating several non-value added activities or dispensations of time. So what is the value of this hour? Well, it depends, of course.
What is the value of the book that you might not otherwise have read? What is the value of the extra time shared with a family member that comes from being fully present at the moment? What is the impact of intentionally choosing to spend your time in an impactful versus wasteful manner?
You will never know the answers to these questions until you audit your time and then make a choice to spend it more wisely. There are 168 hours in the week ahead; how will you invest them?
