In each day we are given 1440 minutes on a use them or lose them basis.
Minutes are the ultimate perishable item. Once a minute is gone it can never be retrieved. If one is wasted it can never be regained.
Those minutes are given to us for free. We aren't charged for our minutes. The President of the United States gets the same number as the homeless unemployed person sitting under the bridge. The teacher the same number as the student. They are the ultimate equalizer. Everyone gets the same daily 1440 minute allotment.
What we do with our precious allotment makes all the difference.
What did you do with your minutes today?
When I first started thinking about how I used my minutes I was amazed at how many of my minutes were used in a manner as perishable as the time itself. If I spend 20 minutes in front of the TV, watching something of no value, the time has perished along with the opportunity to use it productively.
If I spend 5 minutes in frustration waiting for an appointment, the opportunity to use that time has perished. If I spend that time connecting with a friend on the phone, or going for a short walk, I regain that time.
This is why I no longer take a daily newspaper. I realized that while I loved to read the paper, there wasn't anything in any of them that benefited me. Ball game scores, standard crime reports, reporters writing about things assigned to them that they obviously know nothing about, and other things of no real value to me filled the columns. Most any story could be inserted into a different edition and with a change of a date fit right in. It was the same "news" over and over again.
I actually missed the papers; I used to actually read three daily papers, but I didn't miss them for long not for long. I now spend my reading time reading things of significance written by people who might actually have thought about what they are writing.
I always have a book with me. Something I want to read. Whenever I am anywhere, airport, Dr's office, or a few minutes early to pick up my kids I use the time to learn something new.
I keep a list of quick things to do. If I have 5 minutes I will have something useful to do with those 5 minutes. Update my web site, add another name to my database, toss a load of laundry into the washer, or connect with someone online.
This doesn't mean I am hectically or frantically busy. I have found if I treasure each minute and don't waste my minutes I have minutes for many things. I have minutes to enjoy the sunrise; to take a walk when it snows. To watch a football game, yes on TV. I have minutes to listen to my kids without thinking about anything other than them. I have the 10 minutes it takes each day to walk my kids into the school building, not just push them out the door of the car.
I find by treasuring my minutes I almost always have time when a client calls.
I have found that be deciding in advance what I will use my minutes to do, I have time for just about everything.
I like that.
Rick
