"Just 8 hours"

For most, a  typical workday is 8 hours. How many times have you started the day and said, “Just 8 hours to go…”? Admittedly, I have done it on occasions when there has been nothing really exciting or challenging to work on. I think every person, at every level has felt that way, even if they haven’t verbalised it.

In a way, a very real way, we are wishing away part of our lives and the time we are wanting to pass in an instant, can never be recovered.

Imagine if we had to pay a fee for each and every hour we lived. How different would our attitudes be? Say we had to pay an additional tax of R100 per hour to be at work, would we still be just wishing our R800 away because we didn’t feel like doing a particular task assigned to us? My approach would be, instead of feeling like I am wasting my money, I’d rather finish the activity as quickly as possible to be able to move onto something different and see my money spent on something I actually enjoy doing. I only have a finite supply of funds and would rather be spending it wisely.

Well, think of your bank account of time. It too only has a finite supply. As you make a withdrawal, it does not get replenished. You only have the allocation that you were born with.  The “just 8 hours” is a commitment that will not be refunded, so spend it wisely. Invest it in making your workday the best 8 hours possible. I’ll admit, that’s not always easy, especially after being on holiday and now returning to an office routine again, but ultimately, we get to choose the attitude we adopt to face those 8 hours.

I was also reminded that within the “just 8 hours”, how many opportunities there are to impact on other people’s lives. We can live in the wasteful clock-watching mode, waiting for knock-off time and just getting through in a survival mode, or we can be vigilant in identifying needs in people around ourselves. See where others need encouragement, a positive word may be just what they need to boost them through their 8 hours. So many people are suffering with hurt, depression, anger or rejection. See how you can make your “just 8 hours” into an investment by influencing your immediate surroundings. If you see your workday in that way, 8 hours can actually seem too little… 

Busyness as Usual?

The year 2015 is well on its way, holidays are over and routines are returning to normal. Or are they…?

How many people made new year’s resolutions?

A new year is a great milestone to close a chapter and start writing a new one. The end of 2014 could signify the signing off of whatever happened during the year and leaving it in the past. Face 2015 with a completely new outlook, new opportunities and restored vigour for life.

I write this after my first few days back at the office after 4 ½ weeks of leave and find myself gagging on the cliché –ness and hypocrisy of that line. I am exhausted already and although I haven’t counted the days till the first long weekend, the thought has crossed my mind. My relaxed holiday routine has been displaced by alarms, schedules, emails, deadlines and busyness as usual! It is a shock to the system. What it has brought about though, is a desire to make my busyness count. My efforts must make a difference. They must not be wasteful. My time is limited and every second I have available, I want to use to my fullest potential in whatever it is I am involved in. I want to find opportunities to add value to my family, my employer, to my friends and colleagues and if I am able, to the world. I guess these have been my goals for a while, but starting 2015 has stepped this desire up a gear and placed a few areas in focus that require a bit of action on my behalf, rather than just waiting and leaving them to chance. There are huge opportunities available to all of us, you just have to be actively seeking them. I enjoyed this quote from a book I read recently: “Most opportunities never announce themselves with trumpets and confetti. They’re easily missed, mistaken, or squandered. They can be scary. And they never come with a 110% money-back guarantee. They’re often nothing more than chances to improve on something other people are already doing. Opportunities are whispers, not foghorns.” Sean Patrick in his book about Nikola Tesla. 

Actively seek out the opportunities that surround you. They may not be fog horns or presented to you in flashing lights, but they are there. Don’t let your busyness keep you trapped in your current circumstances, pause, take a breath and look around yourself and turn those opportunities into something amazing.