Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips

There are many things we can do to reduce the time required to complete tasks. Is that always a good thing?

If we do a task each day, let’s find a way to automate it. Surely we can write a little piece of software that will do it for us at the click of a button. Then we can move on to more important things.

But at what cost?

Cost? There is no cost. The cost to write the software will be earned back in a week. Henceforth, it is all profit. Let’s do it.

But at what cost?

Cost? You aren’t listening, get with it, try to keep up.

Time-consuming tasks that are not mind-consuming bring benefits. Such tasks—pick up the little waste basket, walk down the hall, dump it into a large waste basket, etc.—allow time for thinking.

Thinking is usually a good idea. It requires a few moments here and there. Let’s not eliminate all those moments.