Nobody wants to waste time. We want to get the most out of life. Striving for life balance is a widespread goal these days. We want lives that have satisfying portions of productive work, meaningful non-work activities and rejuvenating recreation. We want a lot.
But identifying what constitutes wasted time can be tricky. Last month I wrote about making time to think and I noted that sometimes productive thinking is not particularly goal-oriented or structured. John Gratton warns us away from idleness and I agree. I just want to add that what may look and even feel like idleness isn’t necessarily idleness. Freeform thinking (aka daydreaming) can be equally productive; sometimes even more so since there’s no pressure to produce results immediately.
The opposite of idleness is activity. Yes, shun idleness, but don’t simply replace it with activity, any activity. I think a good test for wasted time is whether the activity (or lack thereof) in question saps your energy, mental and physical, or increases it. What's your test?
Claire, what you say is correct. It reminded me of a story I heard that compared artists to cows. To watch cows, it's like they're not working at all. Until milking time.... Thanks for your insight.
Posted by: John | May 9, 2006 11:32 AM | Permalink to Comment