by Danny Mucinskas, researcher at The Good Project
In 1682, William Penn, founder of the colony of Pennsylvania, wrote, “Time is what we want most, but what, alas! we use worst.”
Penn’s words still ring true today, as little with respect to our use of time seems to have changed in the past several hundred years. For many of us, life is very busy, and there never seem to be enough hours in a day to accomplish everything we want to achieve. We are therefore constantly making judgments and tough choices (or avoiding them) as we weigh options for how we will spend our time to reach our goals and find fulfillment.
Numerous sources confirm that time is a precious commodity: surveys from Pew show that half of Americans feel that they are always trying to do two things at once, while Deloitte reports (perhaps contradictorily) that almost two-thirds of time in a typical weekday is spent just on sleep, work, and watching TV. Allocating time is not just a matter of having more of it, though: as discussed in The Atlantic, there is a fine balance between enjoying free time and having too much of it (which can feel unproductive, lack meaning, and give rise to feelings of purposelessness).
Especially in the unprecedented shutdowns of the COVID pandemic, our relationship with time and productivity is even more fraught. Distinctions between weekends and weekdays, or between “work time” and personal time, are blurred for individuals now working from home. For those considered “essential workers,” time spent on the job may come with a new sense of danger with each passing minute and interaction with others. Families stuck at home together might feel that time is passing agonizingly slowly; those who have lost loved ones to the virus feel that time together was all too short.
The Good Project’s own research into the nature of how individuals define “quality” also found a strong relationship to time: Several thousand participants across seven countries often spoke about “quality time” or “time well spent,” wanting to ensure that their day-to-day experiences were worthwhile.
Amidst the constant hum of daily tasks on our plates, opportunities to step back and reflect are rare, but it is important to ask oneself: Am I spending my time in a rewarding way?
We developed a short activity to guide people through a process of reflecting on how time is spent in a typical week and how that breakdown of time relates (or may not relate) to one’s most important values. This activity has been used in numerous workshops with students and practicing professionals alike. It is a simple and powerful way to focus on the connections and disconnections between what is important to us and how we allocate time.
Watch the video below and try it out yourself! We hope that this exercise will help you set aside time for what matters to you right now—whether that be learning a new skill, playing a game with your children, or achieving a personal or professional milestone.
Link here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0gUx4ZV3TA
After you complete the activity, consider the following questions:
Why do my top values matter most to me?
Do my values match how I am allocating my time? If so, how? If not, why not? Are my activities “time well spent”?
How can I make life choices that will allow the way I spend my time to better reflect what I most value? How will these decisions affect me and others in my life?
If you enjoyed this activity, consider also trying our Value Sort, another way to consider and weigh your most important values.