Saving Time

You can’t save time, you can only spend it. How can you make sure you spend your time wisely?

In honor of the time change yesterday, I thought I would dedicate this post to the concept of time. Specifically, saving time.  Most of us have too much to do and not enough time to do it in.  Having a time turner would be nice, but it wouldn’t solve our problem. We would just be spending even more time and be even more exhausted.

My favorite quote on this topic is from the Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff:

“The main problem with this great obsession for saving time is very simple: you can't save time. You can only spend it. But you can spend it wisely or foolishly.”

I have always found this quote helpful. Instead of thinking of ways to save time, I need to focus on how to use my time wisely and effectively.  Why, because trying to save time rarely works. It usually results in a lot of wasted time that could have been better spent.

My son is 7 and is learning how to write. Well, how to write legibly so that others can understand what he has written.  He is capable of writing beautifully when he slows down enough to focus on writing properly.

Most of the time though he just rushes through his work to get it done quickly so he can move on to something else that is more interesting to him.  The problem is that by rushing, he actually takes more time to do the task. Why? Because he makes so many mistakes and his work is so messy, we end up erasing the entire thing and making him start again.

The lesson he needs to learn is counter intuitive. By slowing down and taking the time to do it right, he actually spends less time on the task than if he rushes through it.  He also does better work. Slow and steady gets the job done.

My aunt agrees: http://humanisthappiness.blogspot.com/2012/07/slow-down-you-move-too-fast.html

Do you have a tendency to rush things? How do you remind yourself to slow down?