Friday Feature: Time Affluence

My Friday features are usually quick reads -- an article or maybe a blog. But recently, I revived my languishing book-reading habit and I’m so excited about some of the things I’m reading that I need to share them here.

Today’s feature? A book about time management. I know -- sounds completely fascinating. 

It is.

I stumbled across Time Smart by Ashley Whillans when I was cleaning out my work inbox. I write about organization – a lot, in fact – and, by extension time management. I even talk about time management in my freshman seminar. But, in all the resources I've put together,  I hadn’t found anything that talked about time poverty/time affluence and, when Whillans put it that way, I have to say I identified.

I’m only about 10% of the way into this book (can you tell I’m reading it on my Kindle?) and already I’m hooked. Whillans starts out with common time traps. Some I can identify with a little bit; for others, I'm practically the poster child. Right now, for example, I’m reading about Trap #5: idleness aversion.

That’s me. I sometimes worry that I’ve completely lost the ability to sit still and do nothing. Many people would not consider this a significant loss but I think it's fair to say that most creative people do. Sitting still and just being isn't just relaxing for us; it's the place from which some of our best ideas emerge. Whillans quotes Blaise Pascal who said, “All of humanity’s problems stem from our inability to sit quietly in a room alone.” 

It’s always a good sign when the book I’m reading calls out to me when I’m doing other things and Time Smart is one of those books. I’m looking forward to getting past the time traps and into the advice section to see if maybe there is a way for me to get rid of my time poverty and turn it into time affluence. Besides quitting my job, that is.

I suppose only time will tell.