The Clock is ticking. Am I spending my time or investing it?

Like most authors, I have a lot of balls in the air. I am currently marketing Releasing the Reins, drafting book two of the Tundra Secrets series (Termination Dust), and revising Roadside Sisters. I have a half-written blog and a newsletter hanging over my head. That’s just the writing part of my life. I am feeling the time crunch.

Yesterday, as a legitimate research activity (I swear), I spent an hour or so watching rodeo videos from the 1950s to 1970s to get into the head of one of my characters in the new book. Somewhere along the line, cute animal videos appeared on the periphery of the screen. They called to me. You know the ones—a tiny puppy barking at their behemoth father, a miniature donkey hoppity hopping around a barn, a highland calf lumbering behind a toddler cowboy . . . I was sucked into their adorable antics. Before I knew it, I had wasted an hour of my life. It’s not the first time either. I played cards in the middle of the day with my husband last week! In the middle of the day! On a weekday!

It’s just that I have so much more time now. I am not ruled by a day primarily scheduled by someone else to serve their goals. I set my own schedule now. If you know me at all, you’ve already predicted correctly that I got out a spreadsheet and made a schedule. It’s a beautiful schedule, color-coded by activity. Of course, it is also a logical schedule with equal time throughout the week for writing, learning, marketing, volunteering, and working out.

There are several problems with it, though. The first is that these are not my only activities. There are a number of important people and things in my life that I did not put on the schedule, which implies that I am just going to shoehorn them in wherever I can without clear intention. The second problem is that the things I did schedule are not weighted or prioritized. I have given them roughly the same amount of time and put them at about the same time each day. Maybe that’s fine, but maybe I need more time to market now than write. Maybe I should write earlier in the day when my mind is fresh. The third problem is that there is little flexibility or freedom in the schedule. Clearly, I need some because I am veering off the schedule to play cards and watch funny videos. Is there anything wrong with that? Maybe, maybe not. What good is a schedule that I can’t stick to because it is too rigid?

All of this made me think about how I am spending my time. I got caught on the phrase: spending time. If you think about it, spend is technically correct but indistinct. It doesn’t really say anything about value. We have time. We can spend it on mundane things or life-changing things (or anything in between). I spend time sleeping. I spend time writing. I spend time watching silly videos. I spend time playing cards with my husband. The word spend says nothing about the worth of these activities. The value of time is not like that of money. You can’t bank time, make more, or spend it later. Time is marching on. Whether with intention or not, we spend it.

The word spend is not nuanced enough, then. How I spend time matters more than what I spend it on. To be more accurate, for example, I use time sleeping. I am spending time by putting it to a particular use. It has a specific health purpose. I may appear to be doing nothing, but my mind and body are recharging. It’s a critical use of time.

In contrast, if I’m honest, I waste time watching silly videos. I spend time on this without thinking. It’s a sneaky distraction from what I intend to be doing. Never have I thought to myself, I should sit down and watch TikTok for the next two hours. To be clear, there’s nothing inherently wrong with wasting time. We all do it. I need down time. However, it can usurp my intentions and goals if I am not careful. (That rodeo footage is not going to watch itself, cute puppies!)

But is it true that I am wasting time playing cards with my husband? I think that falls into the category of investing time. I am spending time with intention and getting something in return. Investing time in marketing may be a more obvious example because it results in a measurable outcome of sales, but it is no more important. Playing cards with my husband is an investment of time in our relationship. We talk and laugh. This deepens our connection. In addition, it reverberates through all my other activities. When I feel connected personally, I am more focused and productive in other areas of my life. It has a big return on investment.

Unlike money, though, the return on investment for time is not more of the same. I am not getting more time because I invested time playing cards with my husband. The return is an improvement in the quality of the time I have left. Since the amount is always decreasing, investing time is the way to go.

Am I getting rid of my schedule? No. I need to stay on track with my goals and it helps me focus. I am going to evaluate it daily, though, and give myself permission to adjust it as needed to get the best return on my investment.

Am I going to stop wasting time? I doubt that would be possible. Cute baby animal videos are entertaining. They make me laugh. The internet knows this and tempts me relentlessly. I need to turn off my brain and decompress sometimes.

I am going to be more conscious of when I am using time, when I am wasting time, and when I am investing time. There is a place for each of these—in the right proportion. But time is priceless, so I must be more intentional about how I am investing mine in the people and activities that increase the quality of the time I have.

Copyright Catherine Matthews 2024