#30 - So are the Ants
Worrying, wasting, and weighing
The lockdown is over, life in London is opening up again. That’s great… Obviously… But it doesn’t mean the return of busy. Plans are being made, diaries are filling up, and I, for one am apprehensive.
What loses out when we’re constantly busy? It’s the time to ponder, and I’m not sure I’ll get anything done without it.
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Worrying
What do I mean by pondering? A quick Google gives the definition:
“think about (something) carefully, especially before making a decision or reaching a conclusion.”
To think carefully- so rare these days.
We’re each awake 16 hours a day. 16 hours! Ample time for pondering. But do we? Nope. Our time is instead spent in a constant state of distraction, with phones never more than an arms length away, and the complex world of the 21st century before us. Little time is spent with our own thoughts.
Even time alone with our thoughts doesn’t do the trick. Pondering is not the first point of call for most. No, it’s pondering’s nervous cousin: worry. That’s what occupies us most. Between worry and distraction there’s simply no time left to ponder. None. So what you say? It’s costlier than you might imagine.
Wasting
To find out why pondering matters lets take a look at its roots:
from Latin ponderare- to weigh
Ok, now we’re getting somewhere: to weigh.
Weighing is vital because all decisions are not made equal. At all. Forgive me to mention work for a minute: It’s crazy to think how much time is spent at work.
Let’s assume a 40 hour week with 5 weeks off each year. That gives 1,880 hours worked. 1,880 hours!
In my humble experience, most of that time is wasted. Certainly speaking for myself. It’s frittered away on busy work: replying to emails, pursuing needless projects, dealing with the administration of our broken systems. Not only does this busy work waste time, it leaves room for little else. Little time to ponder. The difference between a good decision and a bad ones can be months or years of work. Really. This is not, however obvious, we live in a complex world and these things are far from intuitive. That’s where pondering comes in. Pondering is where one can weigh the options. It’s in these moments that the smart way forward becomes clear. When we’re busy the gut reaction is to get more busy, not to question what we are busy with.
Weighing
The great Henry David Thoreau once said:
“It is not enough to be busy. So are the ants. The question is: What are we busy about?”
Bravo. Let’s be honest, we spend our days as ants.
Ants don’t take time to ponder. Nothing against them- they do a marvellous job. But they’re yet to launch a space flight (as far as I know) and they’re probably not going to get us out of this looming Climate Disaster. (To be fair, it wasn’t them who got us into it but that’s water under the bridge.)
I propose we begin taking pondering seriously. Empty calendars are not there just to be filled. Leave some blue sky. Weigh how to spend your time- you might be surprised at what you find. Talk a walk, disconnect, sit with your thoughts- whatever you choose; take some time to ponder.
My Week in Books📚
The Theory That Would Not Die by Sharon McGrayne
I have been meaning to read a book on Bayes Theorem for sometime- was not disappointed. It’s more of a philosophy than a Mathematical theorem- the world is uncertain, we must act accordingly.
The Star Principle by Richard Koch
A gift from Matt Stafford (Thank you Matt!)
Find a rapidly growing niche and become the leader in it. Nice and simple. A fun read- not dissimilar to Play Bigger both interesting perspectives on category creation.
I’ll be updating the books I’ve read this year here. Any recommendations? Let me know!
A Final Thought 💡
“Ponder and deliberate before you make your move. He will conquer who has learned the artifice of deviation. Such is the art of manoeuvring.”
- Sun Tzu