Who Will Do for Me

A thought haunts me and I’m not sure how it’s going to pan out when it gets into writing because a conclusion hasn’t been reached about it, just a thought.  So the writing will be a way of thinking about it and, who knows, some conclusion may be reached after a while at this keyboard.

I’ve written about waiting and this is a related thought, or topic; well it has to be a thought because it doesn’t have a name yet so it can’t quite be a topic, it relates to having nil to do.  When all that has been listed is done what’s next?  But it is an even broader sense of this about which I want to write.

Suppose one was to have enough resources at his disposal to hire someone to do all the mundane work that he normally does, all of the little things that take up his time and thought; what would he do with the time that was now available? 

Starting with getting up in the morning one would have to take care of grooming and dressing himself but where would it go from there?  It could be that the meals were prepared by s.o. else and ready to eat; the log would have to be written personally, as would reading the current book, the bit of French reading, and chiro stretches but once those few chores were out of the way?

If one were to arise at a reasonably early hour, say seven o’clock, the minimal chores would be complete within forty-five minutes or so.  That would mean that from eight o’clock until eleven p.m. there would be no prescribed chores to be done. 

There would be no yard work, landscaping, or plant watering, contracted out; no meals, cooked by others; no bills or correspondence, administered by others except for immediate matters that required response; no leather cleaning, shoe shining, small repairs, car maintenance, shopping, laundry, dry cleaning, driving, dishes, or housework, done by others; don’t have to make the bed, hang up the towels, or clean up the dishes.

The big question is what would personally be done?  The answer lies in the endeavors.  Right now they are a list of twenty items and we need to look at them to see the survivors and those to be hired out.  The actions I take to pursue my endeavors are: audition, utilize (assets), associate, serve (community), enjoy (cooking), use (digital technology), manage (personal finances), exercise, study (French), play (golf), think (life and living), develop (maintain brain-body), compete (pool), ride (horses), sketch, socialize, act, travel, write, and work (maintain the house and yard.)

Of these I could hire out utilize digital technology, manage personal finances, and work to maintain the house.  All the others are things that I want to do for personal achievement and to enjoy my time during the day.  The digital technology aspect could be hired out so I would specify what I wanted installed and utilized and have someone else make sure that it was done and that I am trained.

How much of my time and psychic energy would be freed by such an arrangement?  Since each of these is that to which physical and psychic energy is being applied, we can think of it as a bubble of present activity.  This bubble expands and contracts with desired results.  When something has to be done, the bubble inflates; when it is completed it deflates, or even pops.  It is when it hangs around not finished that it begins to bother me.

In almost every instance of my life this is the scenario; a goal or activity is selected and then work goes on to accomplish same.  As in the case of the telephone service modification, it is hanging around a long time unfinished due to unforeseen circumstances.  Unfinished, misbegotten, procrastinated, or otherwise incomplete activities cause me considerable angst.

Sometimes less important endeavors, and by this I mean less directly related to the achievement of my major aim(s), are used as a distraction from spending time and energy on the majors.  The majors being acting and writing, and then there are others that get neglected out of laziness or even reluctance; these are: associating, utilizing assets (improving net worth), French, and social.

In fact, there wouldn’t be a lot of time made available if I was to hire out those that could be done by others.  By the time I managed someone to do this it would be easier and more time efficient for me to do it myself.  The only requirements for me are (1) the ability to see what needs doing, (2) the discipline necessary to do it, and (3)stop when no further progress can be made for additional effort.

The plotting and scheming that I do each week keep me going but it could be that it allows me to think that I’m making progress when actually there is much more to be made if I applied myself to it more diligently.  The question from Alan Aiken in his book How to Get Control of Your Time and Your Life has to be asked over and over again: “What is the best use I can make of my time, right now?”

The answer has to be objective rather than expedient.  This is the second pitfall into which I fall because I will often pick s.t. that is fun, pleasant, easy, or distracting instead of s.t. that moves me towards achievement of aim.  Along with this is the discounting of laziness and reluctance.  All too often s.t. doesn’t happen because of one or the other of these and then I become aware of the lost opportunity later and get filled with regret and often become critical of me.

One gage of achievement is how much time one spends waiting.  The optimum situation is to have enough of a grasp of what needs doing to achieve aim that one can fill every waking moment with doing it.  

To sum up this post, if you need a helping hand, look at the end of your arm.