Recently I've been thinking a lot about how I am spending my time. Funny how we use that word spending that we normally think about in relationship to money, but there are a lot of similarities between time and money. First, both of them are very valuable to us and to others with whom we may wish share them. Second, they are limited because no matter what one does, there is never enough of either. Yet, it is very easy to waste both time and money by giving them up for things we really do not need or want and sometimes even for things that are not good for us, physically or spiritually. My 60th birthday is coming up in February, so the limits on my time are weighing heavy on my mind. When I was young time seemed to go on forever, but now I realize how finite it really is and how important it is to set priorities.
I've been trying to examine how I spend my time and to determine how valuable these activities are to me and to others. I plan to increase the time I spend doing the valuable things and eliminate or at least minimize time spent doing things of lesser value or that are actually harmful to me.
I've started by listing the things that are important to maintaining my physical, spiritual, and emotional well being. Next, I was thinking of listing the things that
I enjoy, but I found that most of these were already covered by the first category.
That was a bit of a surprise.
When I thought about the things I waste my time on, most of them were not good for me or for others, and I am just tolerating them or doing them without making a conscious decision about spending my time in this manner. Some are just bad habits, like flopping down on the couch to watch TV when I come home from work.
The hardest list to deal with is those that are in the gray area, not really bad for me, but not something particularly enjoyable or beneficial. Most of these are attempts to meet the expectations of others, but they are not things to which I am particularly committed myself. I don't think I am particularly stingy with my time, but time spent in these endeavors doesn't seem to be accomplishing anything valuable.
So, after making my lists, I plan to set some priorities and spend my time wisely.
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3 comments:
Sounds like a plan. . .
Well I set some priorities and I think I spent at least two hours of my time quite wisely today.
Thanks for your comment on The Emerson Avenger blog CJ but I deal with rotten potatoes by cutting out the rot and cleaning them up whenever it seems possible to salvage them. ;-)
I am not sure why those previous comments registered as "anonymous". They were both from The Emerson Avenger aka Robin Edgar who stands behind pretty much everything he says. . .
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