-- Theophrastus
I think this is pretty important. Many people seem to make very little effort to optimize their use of time. And many seem to have way too much patience with people who waste their time.
As one small example, I now refuse to talk business on the phone. It was my experience that those who insisted on phone did not say more in a whole hour than I could have read in an email in three minutes. They were just lazy or not very good at condensing and writing their thoughts, and so preferred to waste my time instead.
Update:
Jes and Chris:
My thinking exactly.
People have varying amounts of complexity surrounding how they enjoy life or not. Some need to feel like their life amounts to something, while others are happy watching the clouds drift by. What irritates me is people who are certain there is an "absolute" purpose. That's why I commented on the initial quote here.
The problem with time is you can not know how much you have. So if you don't enjoy doing business, I don't see why you should spend what is potentially your last days pursuing money, as an example.
I agree. One might think that only "work" or "production" is to be counted as not wasting one's time. But the situation is much more complex than that, and I guess can only be gauged by the individual.
29 comments:
My experience is the opposite. People can send e-mails back and forth all day long without getting anywhere useful. If you want to get a straight answer, pick up the phone and call them.
I agree! That's why i always try to talk with 'no hands', this way i can cook, write o do something useful with my hands.
I have to agree with Eolake.
After having worked for a major corporation here in the USA, and having worked (and continue) for many clients, a short email or text message, if done correctly will get the point across quickly, clearly and without unnecessary greeting, weather inquiry, questions about family,pets,wife,kids,the new car.
Only the needed message gets through. If you want to blabber at length, sure - pick up the phone.
__________
EXAMPLE:
Text message:
Bill, Robb here. Make sure they run another press proof for us to keep. Also - colors on the plates they sent over last night are perfect - Sign off on them!
Phone Call:
ring ring... Bill, this is Robb. How you doing? oh, you're at lunch? Okay - anyway - let's get another press proof from them for us to keep...
Robb - hang on - they're bringing my fettucini... Okay - um, you want an extra proof?
Bill - yeah - get an extra proof.
Robb - thank you (to waiter)...
Bill - okay...we'll get an extra proof...
-------------
You can see where this is going.
Blabber Overload Land.
And the entire message hasn't even been received by the clown who's at lunch...
Is this blog just an excuse for you to whine about how much better you are, and how trying it is? You have a high opinion of yourself that is shared by no one else. Probably that is because you are Danish and they have this bizarre idea that Denmark is a great country.
Anonymous:
I have been very critical about opinions and ideas presented here on this blog in the past.
Is the fact that you need to post messages under 'anonymous' and the fact that you present no facts or arguments, evidence, or references to someone who has such facts or references really a way to mask your own mental weakness?
Where do YOU live? What experience do you have? What do YOU do daily?
I am very critical of anything and everything presented in the media, or in blogs or newsletters, but to make a blanket statement about the blogger or a particular country isn't quite right.
Wait until the New World Order strikes. You'll get a knock at the door, and when you open it - a short hatchet in the forehead.
Burmashave.
TMT: I'll bet that you also talk on a mobile phone - or text message while you're driving too.
Feel free to collide with me sometime.
Once you come to a stop, your Genepool Affiliation Card will be canceled.
RCMEDIA: TOTAL HIL!! Thanks for that GREAT example! REALLY!! :-)
Kabel Yaache & Anon: are the 2 of you more closely related than you care to admit?! It's almost as though 2 EVIL sock puppets are yammering at each other to "hear" you "talk" to Anon, KY [jelly]! lol! What the heck; did your parents leave you "both" to yer own devices?! Ugh! Such UGLY personalities!! :-(
o TC and Kabel,
TC, I can understand your viewpoint! :-)
But I think Kabel just got angry about these aggressive Anonymous words, and I can understand that too. He gave an analysis about what is disturbing him, not just plainly attacking, so I think he is high above Anonymous. Last paragraph maybe "too much", but who knows. Anonymous is really annoying.
By the way, I think we had two different Anonymous in this discussion, the first one is somebody who just gave his opinion (a normal person) versus the one that just attacked personally, (the spitting frustrated person).
Anonymous,
Eolake is making a blog where he puts his ideas. It is stupid to insult him because he writes the ideas he has and that are not the same as your ideas.
If you would make a blog, I am sure you would write your own ideas, and not Eolake's, isn't it so?
So why are you angry at him for having his own ideas ? Why don't you make a blog, where you could express yourself ? You could write for example that it is so much better to talk on the phone than to write mails. No normal person would insult you for that.
Yeah. While KY can be highly critical at times, 1) he is not so *always*. 2) he puts in some reason behind his argument. 3) he uses his name, and the same name every time.
"Wait until the New World Order strikes. You'll get a knock at the door, and when you open it - a short hatchet in the forehead.
Burmashave."
I hesitate, but now reading it again I find this really funny.
"Burmashave" - does it mean something ?
Or just a "trap word"?
I remember in high school we were using chemical component names to insult each other / well, not very serious insults as you can imagine. /
ex:
You Tetrohydrofuran !
Well, it's even worse do discuss things over the mobile phone network with all the fadings, network interruptions, and annoying those sitting next to your table in a restaurant. It's just a matter of using modern systems sensibly. I wouldn't want to miss neither email nor phone.
Most of us waste a lot of our time. I know I waste most of my time. I've never been bothered by it. In fact, sometimes I make a point of purposefully wasting time. Unless you believe you're going to be floating somewhere looking down on life continuing after you die, I just can't see how "life's accomplishments" can have much importance to you after you're dead. I know most people don't see things that way. Such is the delusion of life.
To Chris S
Purposefully wasting your time in not really wasting your time, I think ! :-)
It is using it in a way you like.
There are some things I want to achieve in life that I would feel happy about. Not after my death, but in my life. And for this I know I need to use my time better. For example, probably not write that much on this blog... :-)
Anna: Question: Is "Anna" the one and same person "Aniko"?
Anna said...
"By the way, I think we had two different Anonymous in this discussion..."
Yes...sorry...I was aware of that fact; perhaps I presumed that the distinction didn't need to be made...
"Last paragraph maybe "too much", but who knows. Anonymous is really annoying."
I think it was more the message to TMT that I thought highly uncalled for...and ignorant. There are actually some of us who are "highly functioning" multi-taskers and can actually *do* things *while* talking on the phone...using our BLUETOOTH headsets!!
And...perhaps that whole "blurb" to TMT was something coming out of some movie that men seem to quote more easily than a mantra; I have no clue: I don't waste much time in front of meaningless television or movies; but...I guess we all "waste" our time the way we choose. I just try to do what I enjoy w/my time MORE than what I don't enjoy. So...if I prefer to speak w/someone on the phone, rather than do the e-mail thing (more personable), then I'll call them and ASK if this is a good time to talk, or whatever. And, conversely, if the other person doesn't care to speak on the phone, then there isn't a gun being held to their head to answer the dang ring, neither, yeah?! ;-)
> Anna: Question: Is "Anna" the one and same person "Aniko"?
Yes ! :-)
Slight identity shifting... :-)
> I think it was more the message to TMT that I thought highly uncalled for...and ignorant
I didn't read that one...
Anyway. I decided I won't react to these kind of comments any more. I am coming to this blog to have fun ! Not to get nervous... :-)
> if the other person doesn't care to speak on the phone, then there isn't a gun being held to their head to answer the dang ring
Hopefully not ! :-)
/ I myself am quite a bad mutitasker. /
Well, I definately wouldn't want my life to just pass me by, but I do think it's possible to take the idea too seriously. Spend any amount of time on youtube, and you're bound to see a troll say, "Oh dear sweet Jesus, I just wasted 4:56 minutes of my life watching this crappy video!" Now that just seems obsessive compulsive to me. I'd rather spend the whole day watching cartoons than agonize over making the most out of every second. My thinking is, if you're enjoying your time, then it's not being wasted.
"My thinking is, if you're enjoying your time, then it's not being wasted."
My thinking exactly.
People have varying amounts of complexity surrounding how they enjoy life or not. Some need to feel like their life amounts to something, while others are happy watching the clouds drift by. What irritates me is people who are certain there is an "absolute" purpose. That's why I commented on the initial quote here.
The problem with time is you can not know how much you have. So if you don't enjoy doing business, I don't see why you should spend what is potentially your last days pursuing money, as an example.
Here is the story and premise behind the BurmaShave comment...
http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles/waterman37.html
And yes, KY can indeed be a pain many times, but does also speak the truth.
And racecar spelled backwards
is still racecar.
Pope Güste Wiesel
'As one small example, I now refuse to talk business on the phone.'
I can understand how this can come across as arrogance on the part of Mr Stobblehouse. I wonder how many of his callers, having been faced with reaction, thought precisely that and simply didn't bother to take things any further?
The law of averages would seem to indicate that he must have missed out on perhaps several lucrative opportunities due to this behaviour?
[Post updated.]
YetAnotherAnonymous, you could be right. And I'd not be surprised if somebody took it to be arrogance. But in my experience *everybody* who insisted on the phone was very, very talky. And wasted my time.
And if somebody can't write an email, or at least has *something* written in a document or a web page, then I really doubt it's a serious and important business opportunity.
So it's a calculated risk I'm willing to take.
Thanks for the article, RCMEDIA ! :-)
Really cool story an rhymes !
IF YOU THINK
SHE LIKES
YOUR BRISTLES
WALK BARE-FOOTED
THROUGH SOME THISTLES
BURMA SHAVE
Eolake said...
"And if somebody can't write an email, or at least has *something* written in a document or a web page, then I really doubt it's a serious and important business opportunity."
But...what if it is YOU, Mr. Stobblehouse, who is waiting for a response...at the other end of [yet another] sent e-mail; does that change the "flavor" of your answer, dear sir?! Do ya [GASP!] pick up the phone and [nervously, w/pearls of sweat! lol! ;-)] start dialing or...do you WASTE MORE TIME sitting around WAITING for the "incoming" e-mail?! Methinks there is a TIME; SITUATION; and PURPOSE for BOTH modalities...depending upon preference of BOTH ends of the "equation"! What is *the* MOST efficient (quickest?! Don't fuck w/my time!! lol! ;-) method of getting the issue solved: does the "recipient" of your request move FASTER via e-mail or phone?! And...if "I" am driving, I don't have fucking TIME to pull over and jot a happy little e-mail for someone! I'm gonna CALL them to make it happen!! :-)
"Valuable", or "useful", or "worthwile", depends entirely on what you value.
For a great many people, the #1 value/goal is money.
While some others are wary that money might actually be worth nothing, being just an illusion conveniently established by the banking System. :-P
Like for example Chief Sitting Bull, who said "you can't eat money".
Unlike coin-diving Uncle Scrooge, I view monetary wealth as merely a means to obtain what I either need, or want to acquire.
And unlike MANY wealthy people, power and dominion over others is not something I either need nor want to acquire.
"Money buys guards, but not safety.
Money can buy medication, but not health.
Etc." I'm sure you've all read that one.
And I would add: "Money buys you servants, but not friends." :-)
Worshiping money is mistaking the tool --correction: ONE of the tools-- for the result.
Being "productive" also demands to take several steps back and question one's perspective: are you SURE the stereotypical model of "success" is what you need, want, and will make you happy? Or will you feel at the end of your life that you never took the time to enjoy it?
You can't actually convert it all into traveler's checks and take it with you on your final journey...
You want to know why I'm still single at 38? Because I was not as much in a hurry to get married, as I was careful to NOT make an unhappy marriage. I've been courted many times, like any reasonably healthy Lebanese male. :-) But so far, not by anyone I could picture myself spending my entire life in intimate company with.
Not to mention a few which I'm very glad to have successfully escaped for good. (And it any of youse mokes ever tells Bertha Ben Picon of my whereabouts, I'll send Hezbollah commando hitmen after your sorry tattoozes!!! I hope this is crystal clear?)
Kabel Yaache noted...
"to make a blanket statement about the blogger or a particular country isn't quite right."
Yeah, that's right! Fair is fair: why is Tut-Ankh-Anon The Second neglecting Lebanon with his blanket statements? Blankets would be most welcome in this starting winter season, and blanket statements a welcome change from carpet bombings. Also from economical crisis curtains. And where the Gehenna is my golden parachute retirement speech?
"Know thy fabric." -- (Aladdin of Baghdad)
"Feel free to collide with me sometime."
Kabel, are you SURE this is the right thread to get flirtatious?
You're not even sure that TMT is a woman. Nowadays many guys cook at home. ;-)
'Sides, it sounds quite close to "TMNT", and those four mean green lean ninja turtles are all guys. 4 guy teens living together with a skinny old rat whom they obey and call "master". Come to think of it, saying this suddenly makes it sound quite disturbing!
So much for my childhood heroes...
Ah well, at least I'll always have Pierre and the cub scouts. Nothing could sully THIS hero's adventures! :-)
TC [Girl] genetically studied...
"Kabel Yaache & Anon: are the 2 of you more closely related than you care to admit?!"
Come on, TC, even folks from the Deep South have a right to express themselves on this blog! ;o)
(That hatchet thing was a dead giveaway of the geographic location, yessirree.)
And that image of two unwashed evil redneck sock puppets fiercely wrestling in the mud... (shivers) WAY too disturbing, girl! Please have mercy on me poor soul, lassie.
Anna,
You're right, given the great size of the Anonymous family, it is best to always specify which one is meant. (I myself don't always approve of my remote cousins' opinions and way of expressing them.)
BTW, I like the nickname. My adorable little niece's nickname is "Nana". :-)
Speaking of which, it's almost time for her morning visit. SMOOCHIE ALERT!
"Why don't you make a blog, where you could express yourself ?"
Um... perhaps because you're not allowed to have your own blog at Arkham? (Or you are, but can't make it public, it's strictly for the shrinks to assess you?)
(Sorry for going off-topic. That's because I'm currently watching Pacman Begins: the Darkish Night, a masterpiece of a movie!)
"ex:
You Tetrohydrofuran !"
I'd say Sulfuric Anhydride is way more insulting.
It's a gas that smells like egg-fueled farts! :-)
(I bet some Anons already knew that.)
And how about "go mentholate yourself, you decarboxylated ornithine"? Sure sounds cooler to say than "dog breath"!
"I am coming to this blog to have fun ! Not to get nervous... :-)"
[twitch] I react, but [twitch] do *I* sound nervous? [twitch]
Then again, I'm often the one MAKING some others nervous. ;-p
[twitch] OMG, THEY'VE KILLED KENNY! YOU MODERATING BLOG TROLLS!
Spend any amount of time on youtube, and you're bound to see a troll say, "Oh dear sweet Jesus, I just wasted 4:56 minutes of my life watching this crappy video!"
Yeah, and they waste... how much EXTRA time by posting such stereotype comments?
While they could be in Church praying sweet Jesus for the salvation of their soul instead.
Chris S.,
If wasting your time is your way to ENJOY it, this could definitely be considered as worthy use of it. Call it your personal version of entertainment. People will PAY for worthy entertainment! :-)
Just like you can enjoy your money by wasting it in a most futile manner!!!
"And racecar spelled backwards is still racecar."
So are "tart rat" and "qwertrewq".
Not all are deeply meaningful, I'll give you that. :o)
"I'm gonna CALL them to make it happen!! :-)"
Just do it.
Nikê is the name of the Greek goddess of victory.
RCMEDIA,
More aptly, I'd say Blabber Overload Land Lost Over Constant Knick-knack Setbacks. You do the translation. ;-)
"You can just call me... Ivan."
Allright, Pascal, your recreation is finished for today. Time to return to your room and take your... [wink-wink] medication, my little one.
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