On today’s show we’re talking about the top 4 causes of erosion of our scarcest resource. Whether we’re talking personally or more broadly, the scarcest resource is time.
Time wasters are the among the most tragic of outcomes. After all, that’s all we have is time. Time is the great equalizer. Many of those who have managed to amass wealth have learned to manage their time better than others. They use their wealth and their time together in concert to create leverage. They spend money to save time. They invest time and money together to multiply their business and life objectives.
But there are things that happen in life that can derail focus and cause massive amounts of time to slip by. On today’s show we’re going to focus on the top three causes of time erosion.
1) Low Value Activities. There are so many activities that make up part of daily life. Some people spend time mowing their lawn. That’s minimum wage work. If your time is worth $10 or $15 an hour, then by all means you should mow your own lawn. But if you aspire to more, then you should delegate that work to others who can do it for less than your time is worth. I rarely go shopping these days. I try to order almost everything I can online. It might be for pickup at the grocery store.
2) Emotional Disruption
When people get uncomfortable, they often seek distractions in order to manage their emotional state. Some people spend time on social media. Some turn to alcohol, or watching TV, computer gaming or any of a number of distractions. There is a massive difference between idle time wasting and regeneration. Regeneration is an important and vital activity. Time wasting has little regenerative quality to it.
3) Health
A health issue can cause a massive disruption in one’s life. This could something as simple as a common cold which can sap you of energy to a more serious situation. My sister recently had a bout of appendicitis. I’m happy to say that the surgery and treatment she received post-op has been successful. She fully on the mend. That single event has taken her offline for a minimum of three weeks. The last health issue I had was back in high school when I too suffered with intestinal issues that caused me to miss about 3 weeks of school. Today here in 2020, even a mild symptom that matches the Covid-19 description is cause for self-isolating for a minimum of 14 days. If you test positive for SARS Cov 2 you’re going to be infectious for a period and could lose
4) Conflict
Conflict can sap you of energy and focus. I know that whenever my wife and I have a disagreement, which doesn’t happen often, I have witnessed 3-4 hours just vanish into thin air. We’ve both got much better are coming back from those hardened positions and resolving conflict more quickly.
But conflict comes in all shapes and sizes. If you’re party to a lawsuit, that process can drag for months or years. The amount of lost time and energy in dealing with a lawsuit can be astronomical.
Right now, there is nothing more important for society than dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic and the impact to the health of people and the health of the economy. But the US is in the middle of an election cycle. The last time there was consensus and collaboration among lawmakers was in the early Spring when the Cares act was signed into law on March 27.
The past six months have seen nothing new to help the economy. In fact, the White House reported today that they’re not even going to try and get consensus on helping the people until after the election. That’s another month wasted. In the meantime, the economy is suffering, people are losing their jobs, businesses that can’t make it in the current environment are closing permanently.
The most important thing you can do with your time is manage your time, energy and health.