I looked up the topic I was writing about yesterday and it is a well known time management method referred to as the 8-8-8 theory. As I said yesterday it is eight hours of work, eight hours of sleep, and eight hours of personal time. the problem is when it comes to what time gets sacrificed to the things that need doing it isn’t the work and the sleep time that go.
This morning I had a realization. This method of time management only works for the wealthy. It is one of those things. Money can’t buy happiness, but it can buy all the things that make us happy. I had this realization while walking a dog and thinking about how here is 20 to 30 minutes of my day being eaten up. Those eight hours that are supposed to be personal time. This was actually work time because it is my job to walk dogs, but still this was when I had the thought.
Picture your day as Jane or Joe Average. You go to bed at 10:00 PM and get straight up at 6:00 AM because you’re going to do this 8-8-8 thing and do it well, damn it. Straight up at 6:00 AM and straight into the shower because personal hygiene is important. We’ll say this all takes 30 minutes to shower, shave, take care of nature’s call, brush teeth and whatever other personal hygiene matters one has to attend to. Then a few minutes, we’ll say 15, to get pick out clothes and get dressed. You’re a slow dresses but a quick personal hygiene attender.
Now we’re ready for the day, but not yet. We’ve got to walk the dog we’ve chosen to own. You could say this is personal time. That pet ownership is a personal choice, and it is, but shit rolls down hill and it’s landing on you. Personal time is more about your personal time of how to choose it, and the dog has chosen this time to need a walk and food. So 30 minutes to walk the dog and now it is 7:15 and time to cook and eat breakfast. Give an hour for all that and that book you meant to read before commuting to work just isn’t getting read until later.
Here we go with more personal time that isn’t really personal time being spent on a plane (who are we kidding), train, or automobile on the way to work. We’ve got eight hours at work with a one hour lunch break that your boss makes you clock out for (what a jerk) so there goes another hour of personal time and boom, it’s 6:00 PM and time for a commute home, but first you got to stop at the gym because your pants are starting to get a little tight and 30-45 minutes on the treadmill will do you some good. Again, like walking the dog (who is waiting at home for a long overdue walk), this could be said is a personal choice but when your wife, doctor, and tailor are all telling you to shed pounds and inches is it really all the personal.
After driving to the gym, changing clothes, and working out another hour has gone by at you’re picking up Chinese or pizza for dinner and eating it on a TV tray catching the tail end of Jeopardy before the clock ticks over to 8:00 PM and you’ve now really got to get that dog out.
8:30 and finally some real personal time. Time for you to make a choice as to what to do with the rest of the evening. That is until you remember you haven’t started laundry or done the dishes or changed that light bulb that has been out for a couple months and you don’t have any pants to wear tomorrow, clean dishes to eat off of, and it would be nice to be able to see in the living room again.
With how this day has gone you’re more than happy to simply fall into bed a couple minutes early at 9:45 and swear you’re getting up at 6:00 AM because you’re doing this 8-8-8 thing like a truly successful person.
Now imagine this day but insert a dog walker, housekeeper, personal chef, a work from home job, and all the luxuries only the rich can afford. Now you’re getting up for a brisk swim in your heated indoor pool, coming downstairs for an egg white omelette with black truffles and gruyere cheese, then heading into your home office to knock off eight hours of online meetings before relaxing in your living room listening to classical music and reading the latest self help book by that guy you know from the country club.
See the difference? It’s only 8-8-8 if you’ve got seven figures in the bank.
David Huzzard Writes 