Discretionary time is valuable to a productive person
Summary
- Discretionary time (time where you chose what you will do with your own time) is to be carefully guarded for maximum productivitiy
Details
- Discretionary time allows us to plan, think, design systems, and test ideas.
- this leads to more productivity
- It is also time that is easy to waste, so guard against losing it
References
Quotes
For the productive person discretionary time is essential and needs to be closely guarded.
What do I mean by ‘discretionary time’? I mean time during which you have a choice of what you can do. It may not be a wide choice, but it is to some degree a choice. If you are an employee who works in an office you may not have a choice about being in the office and there may be a limited range of activities you can do while you’re there. But within those limitations you have a choice. You can be answering email, writing a report, phoning a client, or any other work-related task. To put it simply, discretionary time is when you are working off a list rather than off a schedule.
For productive people, discretionary time is one of their most valuable resources. This is the time in which they are going to ask questions, develop new ideas, design routines and systems, and apply them to the work. Giving discretionary time away unnecessarily is something they avoid at all costs.
If you want to become a more productive person, be like them. Don’t give discretionary time away lightly. It is the time in which you will be doing most of the work which goes towards your productivity.
A word of warning. Discretionary time is not just potentially the most productive time you have, it is also the time which is easiest to waste. You can spend your time doing productive work in a productive way.