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Jewish World Review
August 29, 2005
/ 24 Av, 5765
Time
By
Marty Nemko
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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
Since I was a young child, I have been afraid of dying young. While this has cast a pall over my life, it has yielded a silver lining: it has made me appreciate time.
I've had many years to acquire strategies for making the most of each moment. These are the most important:
Have a little voice always whispering in my ear, "Is this the best use of my time?" That translates to thoughts such as, "Is there a more time-effective way to write this column?" Is it really worth taking the time to go to my cousin's wedding?" "Golf is fun but it's too much of a time suck. So's TV."
Have a personal mission statement and allocate my time accordingly. Mine is: "To use my best skillthe ability to communicate verbally and in writingto help people with their work lives, to expose higher education as America's most overrated product, and to advocate for the most unfairly maligned group: men."
I used that personal mission statement in crafting my career, and on the micro level, in choosing which discretionary projects to take on.
Work to the sweet spot of time-effectiveness. For example, if, in writing a column, I could do a good job in a half day, a very good job in a day, and an excellent job in two days, I'll probably aim for getting it done in a day. Why wouldn't I shoot for excellence? Because I could write a whole other very good column in that second day, and I believe two very good columns does more for the world than one excellent one. Besides, I enjoy the feeling of having completed somethingit feels better to have, in two days, gotten two columns done, not just one.
Of course, occasionally, as with the book I just finished writing, The Silenced Majority, which I am now trying to get published, I've spent all the time necessary to make it as good as possible. Getting it published is important to me and its thesis is controversialthat men and boys deserve better treatment in the schools, colleges, media, employment, and government policyso the only chance of getting it published is to make it as excellent as I can.
Work at home. Most people who live in the suburbs waste an hour or two of their day's best hours merely getting to and from work. So, it is non-negotiable for me to work at home.
Be kind in a time-efficient way. My dear neighbor, Ray Mattoon, was an Army colonel and after he retired, got a PhD in philosophy. I asked him what he thought the meaning of life is. He said, "Be kind. That's it." But kindness usually takes lots of time: volunteering for good causes, nursing a friend back to health, etc. How do I reconcile my desire to be kind with my desire to make the most of my time? I generally confine my kindness to acts requiring little time. For example, when I see someone doing something praiseworthy, I make a point of complimenting them, whether it's a supermarket clerk who packs my bags carefully, a colleague who makes a good point, or the Earthlink technical support person who calmed me down.
Advice I'd Give My Child
Young people tend to think money is more important than time. It's not.
P.S. Any of you wish I spent more time working on this column?
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
400+ of Dr. Nemko's published writings are on www.martynemko.com. Comment by clicking here.
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