From Time to Time

I want you to think about time. Not what time it is or trying to remember that time you did this or that. Just think about the idea of time. I've been doing just that for some time now. :)

Seriously folks, in the past I struggled with using my time wisely. I still wrangle with time today. I bet we all do. Just think about how we talk about time. Here are some examples:

There's not enough time
I ran out of time
You didn't give me enough time
Time is short
You wasted my time

Let's back up for a minute. Ask yourself, what is time? It's really an artificial measurement we assign to the way the present moment bleeds into the next one. It provides perspective when looking into the past and pondering the future. But what is it really?

If we had that answer readily available and could wrap our arms around it with confidence, things would be a lot different around here. That might just be the biggest understatement I've ever written!

Whether we talk about time at home or at work, the essence is frequently the same. We don't have enough of it and that causes us to not get stuff done. It's a default excuse we can use for failure. Everyone can sympathize with you because it happens to every human being on the planet almost every day we're alive.

So why don't we do more with the time we have? Another great question. In this era of distraction there are so many amusements that idle away the hours, forfeiting time is effortless. Even as I type this, I think back on the last two hours that I spent channel surfing. There was nothing of interest on yet I kept flipping.

That benign behavior allows my brain to switch to standby mode and not work very hard. That might be the crux of time wasting. It's easier than doing something productive.

Here's some quotes to get you thinking:

"When people go through something rough in life, they say 'I'm taking it one day at a time'. Yes, so is everybody. Because that's how time works."

"There's not enough time, unless you're serving it."

"Regret for wasted time is more wasted time."

"What mysterious things days were. Sometimes they fly by, and other times they seem to last forever, yet they are all exactly 24hrs. There's quite a lot we don't know about them."

Hopefully that got you thinking. I try to account for every 15 minute block of time at work. I schedule everything, including lunch, e-mail, social media check-in and phone calls. When I stick to it I'm so much more effective. Does it sound restrictive and formal? Yup. But I'm getting paid to be effective and get results. I can be creative at 11:15pm when I write a blog while sipping bourbon.

This won't be my last time-piece ;) but I'm getting sleepy. I want to be up early and attack my available time.

"We say we waste time, but that is impossible. We waste ourselves."

"Someone once told me that time is a predator that stalks us all our lives. I rather believe that time is a companion who goes with us on the journey, reminds us to cherish every moment because it will never come again. What we leave behind is not as important as how we've lived." Thank you Jean-Luc Picard. A great quote from an average movie. Till next time, folks.

By the way, one of the coolest jazz artists has a new Christmas album out. Look for Chris Standring's Send Me Some Snow is available at all music outlets. He is really cool and innovative. I hope you check it out and enjoy. And if you like it, double back and listen to his album Blue Bolero. Genius, really.