The Value Of Time

"When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive -- to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love." ~ Marcus Aurelius

This post may seem a bit out of the ordinary but it's something which has been on my mind a lot of late. For me it is perhaps life's biggest struggle, and at the same time it is one of the most important skills a human being can possess. I have been struck recently with the notion of how important the concept of time is, what it means for us, and how much we take it for granted. Regardless of how we view this life and despite our differing beliefs on what happens after we die, I think we can all agree that the time we are granted here is extremely valuable.

Plutarch once said "The whole life of man is but a point of time; let us enjoy it." As thinking, rational beings with the capacity to learn and the ability to work to satisfy our varying wants and desires, time is perhaps our most important asset. History clearly demonstrates that given enough time, there are very few limits to what man can accomplish. Not only can we enjoy our time, but we can use it to create, to produce, to learn and to become.

Most of us live under conditions that are far more pleasant than the vast majority of mankind could ever imagine. Not only do we have immense freedom of choice with regards to our person and property, but on average, we also have much more time. The average life expectancy throughout history has varied greatly depending on time and place. Throughout the classical Greek and Roman ages, it hovered around 28. If that were true today, many of you reading this would likely be dead already and I would be in the market for a casket in less than two years. It was about 33 years in Europe during the middle ages and even by the end of the 18th century it had yet to reach 40. It wasn't until the 1940's that the average life expectancy reached 65, the age at which most of us expect to retire and still have 15-20 years of leisure.

To me these numbers are very sobering. Of course life expectancy does not guarantee us a long life, just as it did not automatically condemn our ancestors to an early death. It simply means that on average we have a much greater chance of living to old age than they ever did. The difference in the average life span between a Roman citizen and one in modern America is more than 50 years. We live on average almost three times as long as they did. Just think about that for a moment. What are we doing with all that extra time?

Not only are our lives much longer today than they were even 100 years ago, we are also the beneficiaries of innumerable modern conveniences which serve to make life easier, but also which save us lots of time. Furthermore, technology, education and an ever-increasing flow of information have increased our productive capacity exponentially. The productive potential of each moment of time we enjoy today dwarfs that of those who lived even 100 years ago. If time is a form of money, it is one that has appreciated dramatically over the last few centuries. In general, we have more of it and it is worth much more in terms of opportunity and productive capacity.

This brings us to the subject of choice. Our time is valuable to us because it represents an opportunity to choose. We can decide what activities and goals we will pursue, what we will read and learn, and who we will do these things with. This only holds true however, to the extent that we are free. A slave's time is valuable not to himself, but to his master. Although a slave may derive profit from his few leisure hours, or may find some small amount of joy in his work, it is his master's interests which are served by his time, not his own. It is liberty which endows time with much of its meaning and personal value, and this is yet another reason why liberty is of such importance.

To the extent that we are free, each moment is an opportunity to choose, to learn, to think, to act and to become. Our lives are the sum of our choices and their consequences aggregated over time. As Richard Bach once said, "How can we resent the life we've created for ourselves? Who's to blame, who's to credit, but us? Who can change it, any time we wish, but us?"

I've often thought about the concept of wasted time and what it means. We most often hear this in a critical context, where one person (such as a parent) is bemoaning the "wasted time" of another (their children). When it comes to the use of time, what is wasteful and what is not is entirely subjective. It is our desires, the things that are important to us that determine what is a productive use of our time. If I derive great satisfaction from playing video games or other trivial amusements, and I truly desire to engage in these sorts of activities, then to me, this time is not wasted, although others may declare it to be so. In this sense, my time is only "wasted" if I used it to fulfill desires that are lower on my value scale, while leaving higher-ranking desires unfulfilled. It has nothing to do with the opinions of other people.

This is not however, a defense of shiftlessness or indolence. Although our preferences are subjective, we are often not honest with ourselves about what are preferences really are. Perhaps the one area in which we most deceive ourselves is our desires. From experience I've decided that much of our time is wasted because we aren't truthful with ourselves about what is really important to us. This is not an observation I've made from watching other people as much as it the product of my own personal experiences. Do we really know what we want? Do we have a concrete visualization of what it is and how to get it? In many cases I think not. Also, I believe that we often underestimate the amount of time and work it takes to accomplish our goals. As a result we end up squandering valuable time on trivial amusements and not having enough time to accomplish what is really important. I know this is often the way it works for me.

This being the case, perhaps the most important part of wise time management is a truthful assessment of goals and desires, and a realistic appraisal of what it will take to accomplish them. Without this groundwork, even the best laid plans and schedules will leave us disappointed and unfulfilled. In the words of Lee Iacocca, "If you want to make good use of your time, you've got to know what's most important and then give it all you've got." The give it all you've got part only works if we first know what we really want.

If we desire financial or intellectual success, if we want to have healthy, fulfilling relationships with others, if we wish to improve ourselves physically, all these things take time, effort and planning. On this topic, Henry Ford once remarked "It has been my observation that most people get ahead during the time that others waste." With the Thanksgiving holiday upon us, perhaps we can express our gratitude for our time, not only through words and thoughtful reflection, but by finding ways to better use it to improve our lives and serve others.