July mantra: about time

Time is a funny thing in the summer. It has a way of stretching out slowly, and then SNAP, it comes back and catches up to you. Some days are lazy and slow, and last for hours. But then, when I go on vacation, there’s never a spare second, and I’m busy busy busy, squeezing the most out of every moment.

I listened to a TED talk a few days ago while running about the microeconomic theory of opportunity cost (I can’t seem to find it as I go back through my history. If anyone knows which one it is, let me know!). Opportunity cost is one major throwback to freshman year American Heritage, taking notes and typing on my roommates laptop when she fell asleep (can I get an amen from my freshman friends!).


The premise of opportunity cost is this: the value of anything is the value of the best foregone choice. If I have a choice of sleeping in or getting up early to go for a run, and I choose run, the value of that run equals the value of the extra sleep I gave up.


In many ways I feel I’ve learned this the hard way. When I was a beginning teacher, I’d stay late for hours working on a poster, only to find I hardly actually used it in my lesson. And I’m so guilty of spending time on the computer when I should be with my family. This sends the message that, according to opportunity cost, the value of that time on the computer is worth more to me than that same amount of time spent with my family, and that’s incredibly sad. (Remember those olds LDS advertisements? Family: isn't it about time?)

images via

This quote is going on our fridge to remind us of the value of time, and to help us use it more wisely.

How do you manage your time?
What things do you value most?
And do you show it?