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The Merits of Doing Less in More Time

1 Sep

Funny CartoonWith the forthcoming Autumnal Equinox, I feel a bit like an excited school girl, anticipating what the coming year has in store for me.  Even though we don’t have Autumn Leaves falling here in Los Angeles and we really didn’t have much of a summer, I can feel Autumn in the air.  It is, to me, an opportunity for fresh starts. However, instead of getting carried away with my brand new to-do list, I am taking a moment to understand what I am doing already. Indeed, where do the hours go? I find myself unwittingly buying into the popular notion of doing more in less time. But what if I just flipped that whole notion on its head? What if I accomplished less in more time? How would I feel at the end of the day?

Be Kind, Rewind
First, let me provide a little background to this tale of self-observation. Years ago, I decided to take charge of my time and be my own boss. This was a positive move that enabled me to “get things done”.  I became focused on what was important to me and gradually let go of doing things that weren’t central to my goals. A friend of mine joked that I must have been born a human doing. I had to make trade-offs, but I felt happy overall. Sounds great, right? So what’s the catch?

Well, once I saw that I was good at “getting things done”, then I wanted to “get MORE things done.” And, just like that, in one fine millisecond I realized that being in charge of all my time all the time was not as much fun anymore. I felt unhappy. I had no one else to blame if I was not making the most of my time. Therefore, I took what seemed to me to be the next logical step:  I decided that it was unreasonable of me to expect myself to make the “most” of every moment of my life, whatever “making the most” might have meant to me at any given moment. After all, I am a human being, yes? So why couldn’t I just be? And so begins the tale of the time log and the human being.

The Tale of the Time Log and the Human Being
About 18 months ago, I attended a small, informal event organized by Savor The Success, a networking group for female entrepreneurs. One of the speakers was a professional organizer who addressed the issue of time management. Much of what she shared was nothing new to me. However, my ears perked up when she pulled out a week-long grid and asked us to fill it out with what we actually did, instead of what we planned to do. I was intrigued by this idea and decided to call it the “what-I-did grid”.  As one might expect, the what-I-did grid went on my something-new-to-do list. And there it stayed, untouched.

Then, after releasing When Parallel Lines Meet this past spring, an exhausted me looked back on what had been a very stressful period of roughly two years, peppered only with a few moments of calm.  Even though I acknowledged the numerous challenges I had faced and felt good about my accomplishments in spite of them, a part of me experienced that lingering feeling of “where did all the time go?” and “why couldn’t I get even MORE done?”  I took this as a hint for me to pause before embarking on any new adventures. Over the summer, I got my act together behind the scenes, plus I took some time to catch up with family and friends. I also began to revisit my goals and the path I am taking to achieve them.

At the end of this period of reflection, I was ready to go under the microscope. About 10 days ago, I created my very own what-I-did grid. (Yes, it lives in a spreadsheet, of course, for those of you who are familiar with my proclivity for Excel!) Next, I told that inner judge to take a vacation and I began tracking what I was doing (and sometimes how I was feeling), 24 hours a day. Call me crazy. But I’ve learned a lot about myself.  As I evaluate the data, I realize that there is an inherent observer bias. I’ve definitely been more aware of what I am doing and how long it is taking. For example, if I felt like goofing off and recognized that I needed to relax, then I just let myself be and carried on.  If I became distracted when I wanted to be focused on completing something, then I quickly stopped myself and got back on task. I also observed that keeping the log did not take up much time, mainly because I used a system that worked well for me.

The What-I-Did Grid Tells it Like it Is
The what-I-did grid is a witness to my life’s twists and turns, as well as a party to the moments of joy. It is a testament to the fact that I am doing the best that I can. Like any human being, I have personal quirks that may inhibit me at times. The what-I-did grid helps to highlight these issues, so I can be more aware of them in the future and understand what I can do to change them or work around them. In addition, I can see what kinds of activities bring out the best in me.

With respect to a number of “non-thinking” types of activities, I feel that I’m more or less as efficient as I can be…or, should I say, as efficient as I want to be. For example, I’ve come up with systems to save time in completing repetitive tasks and/or make use of “wait time”, I’m fairly organized so that things have a place to go (most of the time), and I have even timed myself in the past to see how long it takes me to complete certain everyday activities in order to allocate enough time for them. During these days of logging, I noticed that I made a concerted effort to speed up activities that don’t require much thinking. I tried to avoid obsessing over things that otherwise might have taken me more time to complete.

I am a great believer in discipline and efficiency – to a point. Certainly I can be a little more disciplined here or there and I can do this or that a little more efficiently to “skim” time at the margins and it will add up. But I am not a robot.  There’s only so much skimming I can do before the process itself is not as enjoyable (for me). The marginal satisfaction derived from each additional efficiency improvement diminishes and eventually becomes zero (or negative). So I think that being more disciplined than I am right now and doing things more efficiently will only marginally help me get more of what I want out of my life.

When it comes to activities that require a lot of thinking and/or the involvement of others, the what-I-did grid demonstrated (painfully) that such activities often take longer to complete than I hoped they would.  This was no surprise. Moving forward, I have decided that I probably need to allow even more time for these types of activities…and that means I’ll probably be better off taking on fewer activities in a given period of time – if I want to keep my sanity, that is.

“Hope” is the operative word above.  I can hope all I want that Y will take X hours, but hoping by itself produces nothing. It is entirely possible that my standards are too high in some respects and I could stand to skim a little here and a little there, especially in a society that is consumed with speed to market and the number of widgets produced. And it will probably be a good idea to confront that inner judge when she comes back from the vacation. But the bottom line is that no amount of hoping will save me from having to make a choice of some kind.

And, therein lies the problem. I don’t want to choose. Choosing is hard. Those of you who know me will understand that I’ve already made some difficult choices. I’ve taken some risks. Yet, the what-I-did grid makes it clear to me that, even in the course of pursuing my dreams, I have to keep on choosing…or someone or something will choose for me.

I might still wish that I could “do more in less time”, but the reality indicates that there may be some merits to my trying to “do less in more time”.   Whenever I try to do less, I’m more relaxed and I can think more clearly.  More often than not, I’m happier both with the process and the end result. The question is: How can I buy myself the luxury of time? Can I afford not to? What’s the point of pursuing my dreams if I can’t enjoy myself along the way? The more I allow for the ebb and flow of creativity, inspiration, and productivity, the more likely I am to enjoy this passage of time known as life.

Here’s a little joke I remember. I’m not sure if the scenario is spot on, but this is the essence of it:

Wife: “What are you doing today?”

Husband: “Nothing”

Wife: “I thought you did that yesterday.”

Husband: “I didn’t finish.”

So what?
That said, what is the moral of this tale? What does it mean to “try to do less”? Should you become complacent and stop aspiring to be the best that you can be? That’s not what I am suggesting. In fact, I’m all for dreaming. But I do think it is helpful to understand your limitations in light of the dreams you are pursuing. Some limitations you must live with, but other limits can be removed by changing your perception. Knowing every time management trick in the book is helpful only if you know yourself well enough to understand what will work for you.

What do you think?  Please regale me with your own tales!

Where have the Sundays gone? Writing my own Blue Laws

4 Jan

A few days ago, I suddenly found myself longing for the Sundays of my youth. When I was growing up, Sunday was a day for lounging around, for clipping coupons and reading comic strips. We received The Martinsville Bulletin and/or The Roanoke Times. Ever since I was old enough to read and turn the pages of the newspaper, I looked forward to the Sunday comic section: Peanuts, The Far Side, For Better or For Worse, Doonesbury, Cathy, Dilbert. These were some of the comics I remember fondly. (I was less excited about the coupons.) Maybe my memories of Sundays are enhanced by the leisure that typically accompanies childhood years. Or, maybe there was something else that contributed to the leisurely quality of the Sundays that I remember.

The Blue Laws, which restricted alcohol and retail sales on Sunday, also accompanied my childhood years in Virginia. The origins of these laws trace back to the early 1600s, when the citizens of Jamestown were required to observe a holy day of rest on Sunday. The first step towards repealing these laws was taken thirty-five years ago on January 15, 1974. A transitional period ensued, as each county or city was given authority to decide independently whether to observe the laws. Finally, in 1988, a group of businessmen initiated a case that eventually led to the end of the Blue Laws in Virginia. Although I do not feel these laws have a place in our secular American society, one by-product of them was that people seemed to make more time for each other on Sundays. Sundays moved at a slower pace.

In the life that I lead today, I often feel that all the days are the same. As an artist and musipreneur in the US, I feel my challenge is to maintain a portfolio of IGOs, my term for “income-generating opportunities”. This portfolio ideally enables me to draw in sufficient amounts of income, while ensuring that I also have time and energy to practice and create. I am no stranger to faith, commitment, and discipline. So, every day I feel responsible for doing some kind of work towards reaching my goals.

I found the courage to make a promise to my dreams. I promised them that I would do everything in my power to bring them to life. I organized my time in order to make room for their pursuit. At first, I carved out minutes for my art on a daily basis, then hours, days, weeks, months, until I was fully devoted to being an artist and understanding what that means for me and my life. For every unit of leisure that I gave up in order to pursue these dreams, there was something I gained in return and I was one step closer to realizing them.

Enter another law: The Law of Diminishing Returns. Some of you might disagree with the application of this principle to an arena other than agriculture, for which it was originally devised. Still, I think this path is worth exploring, if only as an exercise. This economic principle suggests that there is an optimal amount of investment in a particular scenario. In this case, we’ll apply this notion to the investment of time. The optimal point will be different for every person, based on his or her personal circumstances. The idea is that if you invest less time than this optimal amount, you are missing out on some gains. You are likely to gain a lot from an hour more of study as a novice. An additional hour of study as an expert will contribute to your mastery of the subject. You will be giving up something to get something that is of value to you.

Yet, if you invest more than this optimal amount of time, you might not be gaining anything more. In fact, you might discover that you are losing something. The additional time you spend may well be a detriment to achieving your dreams. Finding the optimal solution is a matter of trial and error.

So, it has occurred to me that, somewhere along the way, I lost sight of the Sundays. Yet, Sundays aren’t really what I’m after. What I’m after is the feeling that comes with a moment of rest. I’m not talking about planning time for meditating or doing yoga or praying or going for a run or reading a book. I’m talking about having some time for doing absolutely nothing and being open to anything the universe offers me in that moment. I want to have that luxury – again.

This year I’m going to find that moment. Maybe I’ll even subscribe to the Sunday issue of the Los Angeles Times and read the comics every week.

In any case, I’m going to write my own “blue laws”.

As always, I’m open to your thoughts and personal experiences as they relate to this post, so please feel free to comment below.

Where the Cents Meet

2 Nov

In early October, there were some people who were curious about my two cents on the upcoming election. With November 4 around the bend, I decided to post this entry to the blog. I leave it to you to determine the worth of these pennies that I’ve been jingling in my pocket.

Cent 1.

What’s Your Sign? The perspective of my five-year-old nephew

My sister lives in Austin, a liberal enclave in the conservative state of Texas. She keeps company with four native Texans – my brother-in-law and three nephews – all of whom are avid fans of the University of Texas Longhorns. Nikhil, age 5, is the proud older brother of the two-year-old twins: Mihir and Rahul. While riding around in the minivan during the last few months, Nikhil has been counting the signs he sees in support of each presidential candidate.

Below is a conversation from a few weeks ago, when he was riding in the minivan with my sister.

Nikhil: “I don’t know about Mihir or Rahul, but I’m for Obama.”

Mother: “OK.” (maintaining a straight face and serious tone of voice)

Nikhil: “And I know that when it was Clinton versus Obama that you were for Clinton…but now you are for Obama, right?”

Mother: “That’s right.”

Nikhil: “But I’m not sure about Dad. What about Dad? Who is Dad for? I think he’s for Obama.”

Mother: “I think he might be, but it would be great if you ask your Dad to find out.”

Nikhil: “Well, it seems like pretty much everybody in our family is for Obama.” (observing the sign for Obama/Biden in the neighbor’s front yard)

Mother: “I suppose it seems that way…” (pulling into garage, while still maintaining a straight face)

Nikhil: “So, when are we going to get our sign?”

Cent 2.

My Sign is Peace – The perspective of hope

So, when are we going to get our sign? Well, what are our choices? The other day my 13-year-old stepson asked why there were only two major parties. Yes, in the States, the political department store generally features only two kinds of signs in the front display. You have to walk inside to see the rest. Most of us are too busy to go in and check out the alternatives. Or perhaps we are afraid that those alternatives pose a threat to the mannequins on display, so we don’t want to know what they are all about. Maybe some of us believe that the merchandise is overpriced, leaving us to believe that we’re better off without it. Some passersby may not even notice the store at all. Even though the display changes every so often, our personal circumstances on whatever street we are living remain essentially the same.

What is most interesting to me about this election are the mannequins on display. Such a display is powerful stuff, regardless of your political views, and it has even turned the heads of some passersby who usually don’t give a hoot. Here I am witnessing not one, but two women whose participation at this level of politics symbolizes a new era of possibilities. I’m also witness to the first ever African-American candidate for President. Furthermore, given our life expectancy these days (for those of us with access to good healthcare benefits), I’m not surprised to see a candidate who is in his 70s. So there you have it: the action figures represent diversity of age, gender, and race.

I step into my nephew’s shoes: “I’m too young to remember the last presidential election, but this time around I’m counting the signs. I don’t stay up late to watch Tina Fey mock Sarah Palin on Saturday Night Live. I don’t watch YouTube. I don’t listen to conservative radio or watch liberal news programming. But I have seen those mannequins in the storefront. I am not sure I understand what they stand for. I know what they look like. One appears to be more popular, but there is nothing unusual about the fact that these are my choices. Hey, maybe someday there will even be a President who looks like me. Well, I think I’ll go with the one that has the most signs. Things around me seem OK. I trust the people around me and my community to know how to make good decisions. If this action figure is good enough for them, then he’s good enough for me.”

Back in my own shoes. How am I different from my nephew? Do I believe that because I’m older and more “experienced” that I will vote for a candidate on the basis of “research”? I suppose I try to find out as much as I can. Sometimes I am persuaded by endorsements from people or organizations that I trust, because I don’t feel that I have the time to do all the research on my own. However, in the end, it comes down to a feeling. I am for the candidate who appears to best represent my value system and who “speaks to me”.

Here comes the “judge” with his gavel. “Someone who speaks to you? What does that mean? You should take more time to do some real research. You should interview the Presidential candidates yourself.”

The “defendant” now speaks up, “Look here, I do my best. It is a wonder that I vote at all, to be honest. Some of these people who are supporters of either candidate are ruthless and I don’t want to be a part of their name-calling ways. They rarely appear to see the humans behind the labels they give each other. Plus, compared to the rest of the world, I’ve got it pretty good. I’ve got running water and electricity 24 hours a day. That’s not going to change under either candidate.”

Says the “judge”, “That’s all you want? Hot showers and some juice for your MacBook? Don’t you want more? Don’t you care? You have the privilege of living in a society where you actually get to choose your leaders – powerful leaders who can influence what is happening in the rest of the world. . .”

Whew! The perspectives have me spinning. But, deep down inside, I know what I want. And I’m going to vote. I’m going to put in my two cents. If I don’t vote, I’m letting someone else decide my future for me.

So, after voting for my pick for our next President and marking “yes” or “no” on 12 California state propositions, I’m hoping for some peace of mind. Without hope, there is no sign of peace.

Your Space or Mine?

23 Sep

The ocean breeze coming down Santa Monica Boulevard on this first evening of autumn gave me a chill as I looked around for the nearest Big Blue bus stop. It was September 22, around 6:15pm, and the sun was on its way to calling it a day. I walked one block and stationed my dark blue backpack-on-wheels near the bench at 14th Street and wrapped my grey shawl tightly around my shoulders. As I paced back and forth to keep warm, I gazed west in the direction of downtown Santa Monica for the bright blue bus that would take me home to neighboring West LA.

A few minutes passed before a black man with weathered skin and hair that matched my shawl approached me unexpectedly. He had on a navy blue baseball cap, a forest green sweatshirt, and jeans that didn’t seem to fit quite right. Without any introduction, he dove right into my personal space and notified me, “Jesus is worried about you. . .” I didn’t object, figuring that it couldn’t hurt to have an extra set of eyes looking out for me.

After a few more similar statements, he leaned in closer and angrily warned me, “you had better pick that up when you leave.” With his nose inches from mine, my usual disposition in such circumstances turned from calm to confused, and I even felt the prickly fingers of fear beginning to crawl up my neck, although my left brain told me he was harmless. (Hey, no wonder Jesus was worrying about me.) Before the man ambled back over to the adjacent gas station, I caught a whiff of his alcohol-laden breath.

Nearby, a couple of people were filling up their gas tanks. One fellow was looking at me, shaking his head in disapproval of this drunken wanderer and I felt a bit safer than I did moments earlier. The drunkard landed in the personal space of yet another one of the gas station customers before picking up an empty green glass beer bottle from the ground. I found my fear subside as compassion surfaced in its place. Still, I couldn’t be sure what would come next (I’ve had a bottle hurled at me once before). So I braced myself for another encounter. Then, after giving me one more stern look, he kept on rambling to himself and dawdled down the sidewalk in the direction of the forthcoming sunset.

Despite numerous bizarre encounters I’ve had over the years in places ranging from safe to skeptical, this moment gave me pause to think. This part of Santa Monica is hardly what one would call “dangerous.” Furthermore, there was still plenty of daylight. Given the unusual momentary fear I had experienced in this instance, I wondered exactly what it was that bothered me, because he didn’t actually do anything to me. I realized that it had to do with how he invaded my personal space – it was in a way that unnerved me for some reason. I felt that anything I might say to defy him might only ignite him further and cause a big scene. I had the urge to push him away, but I thought it best to let him do what he needed to do – to get whatever it was out of his system – and trust that he would leave.

After he left, I began to think about personal space and whether there is any way to defend it from invasion. I mean, what exactly do you say in a situation like that when reason doesn’t stand a chance? Usually minding your own business is sufficient, but it’s hard to mind your own business and ignore someone when you feel as though they might keep getting closer. For a split second, I thought about calling the cops to come get this fellow and arrest him for “violation of personal space.” At what point would it have made sense for that head-shaking customer at the gas pump to have come to my defense? I was in that strange place where my space met the stranger’s space involuntarily: it is that place in which we are not actually touching each other, but where I felt as though we were and where the feeling alone was enough to make me wince. It seems that invasion of space is not enough to warrant action. Our personal space gets no defense.

If you’ve ever had experiences related to the involuntary meeting of spaces in either friendly or unfriendly settings, I’d love to hear about them. Please feel free to share them here.

Architecture & Music Videos – What do they have in common?

12 Aug

A couple of days ago I got the opportunity to attend a seminar titled Creating Music Videos, offered by award-winning director Nigel Dick through the UCLA Extension School. In addition to Nigel’s long list of music video credits over the last 25 years (among them Guns N’ Roses, Cher, Sting, Sheryl Crow, Britney Spears, Pussycat Dolls, Ricky Martin, Def Leppard, Paul McCartney, John Mayer, Elton John, Backstreet Boys, Tina Turner, Celine Dion, R.E.M.), he apparently also holds a degree in architecture which he never put to use professionally. Or is that true? I guess it depends on how you look at it. While it is true that Nigel did not make architecture his vocation at any point following college, it is the case that he was able to apply what he learned to what may seem to be an entirely different and unrelated field.

During the seminar he shared with us his “treatments” (written descriptions) and “sketches” (showing the actual series of shots with comments about the type of camera angle or other details) of music videos to show us the process of how he communicates his ideas before any filming takes place. Towards the end of the day, in response to one of the questions, he made a comment about how directing a music video bears some similarity to being an architect. The gist of what he said was the following: As an architect, you are required to bring to life something that exists on paper. Your success depends both on your ability to communicate your idea clearly to the people who are hiring you, as well as being able to get the best work out of the various people who serve in different functions and capacities on the job in order to make sure that the idea in real life matches the idea on paper as closely as possible. Architects work with brick layers, carpenters, painters, etc. Music video directors work with musicians, actors, set designers, costume designers, make-up artists, cameramen, etc.

Furthermore, Nigel taught himself or took classes to learn the various skills that help him either in communicating his ideas to others when submitting a proposal and/or working with others after he’s got the job. For example, the architecture program in which he studied did not emphasize drawing, so that was something he taught himself in order to better convey the shots he had in mind. Also, he always felt comfortable working with musicians, since he is a guitarist himself. However, in order to become more proficient in working with actors, he took acting classes. Keep in mind that he was not out to become an actor. His purpose was clear – he set out to better understand the actors’ perspectives, so he could use the right language and techniques in getting the best performances possible.

After observing Nigel’s example of what I call “bridging hemispheres”, I was thinking about how so many of us limit ourselves in this world of increasing experts and expertise. I’m not necessarily advocating becoming a jack-of-all-trades, unless that’s what you want and that’s great if it works for you. My message here is to the focused people: If you are focused on something, I imagine that it wouldn’t hurt to look through the panoramic view of your lens to see how your skills might be applied elsewhere, at least so you have a good understanding of what is transferable. And, although you might be very busy looking through your lens, it might be worthwhile to take a break for just a moment to look through someone else’s lens.

I feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to explore the world through a variety of lenses and also to explore how far and wide my own lens can see. And I’m definitely not done yet. You might ask: Well, what were YOU doing in that class? Some of you might not know this, but I was into video back in the day. For the time being, we won’t say how far back in the day that was. Still, I really had no idea about how this world of music video works, other than as a spectator.

Sometime ago, one of my 9-year old students who was intrigued by my music asked me, “Do you have a music video?” He was appalled to hear that I did not. Ever since then – and especially in the course of wrapping up my next album – I think about what he said in all his wisdom. “You should really have a music video – everybody will love to watch it. . .”

So I thought – why not? And, better yet, if there’s someone out there who wants to add a music video to his or her “reel” (filmmaker lingo for portfolio), well then here I am to further the cause! Double the pleasure, double the fun, I say, when two people create synergy through their combined work or meeting of minds.

From what I could tell, I was the only performing artist and songwriter present. My interest in meeting others for a potential partnership was well received and, though I’m encouraged, I can’t say for sure what will come of my sidebar adventure. What I can do is laugh a little about how worried I was about taking time out of my schedule to go to this seminar about a topic that is not my focus. To top off the experience, I attended the seminar on a complimentary basis as a guest of the department (which is another story), so there was no issue of money. So, all in all, I’m glad I took a moment to look at life through the lens of a music video director.