We all have what we consider our “best time”. The part of the day (or week, or month) when we are at our best. In terms of productivity, creativity, focus, and flow. Sometimes all of the above, sometimes a sub-set. There isn’t really a right answer to when that is, it differs from person to person. What I want to explore is a little more nuanced. The question I am asking, is “to whom does that time belong?”
My Employer’s Time
I’m employed. Therefore, I owe a certain number of hours a week to my employer. They have no way to judge whether I am giving them the most productive hours, they can only judge if my outputs match their expectations. Being me, my outputs match their expectations, and if I am not careful, the bar will go up and then the expectations will be more than I really should be sustaining. For the most part that’s fine. We’re used to this idea that we give eight of our twenty four hours in a day to our employer.
I am happy to give them time. I like my work, I like my colleagues. I am willing to put in that time and effort because I am fairly compensated on the other side. That said, does my employer always need to be given my best time? They are given the most time, which means they’re going to see a lot of fluctuation. They get the daily fluctuations, the weekly, even the monthly and seasonal after a while. So should I consistently ensure that the best, most creative, most productive time is in the eight(ish) hours a day I give to my employer?
I suggest that it is not necessary. Oh, you should absolutely do it if you are feeling happy and inspired and you want to. I’m not saying to never give your employer your best time. I am saying it is not something they have a right to expect of you. They do not write in your contract that you are to give them the most productive hours of your day. They write that you are to give them eight hours. Or specifically the hours between 9am and 5pm. There are people who would find that their best hours do not actually fit into that shape.
Time to give
If we fall back on a principle I fail to follow through on nearly enough, this gets interesting. I believe that the only resource more valuable than money is time. It is something everyone has, but not everyone can offer. It is something uniquely yours which can be coerced, can be exploited, and can be taken for granted. It is something we have to remember when thinking and speaking about burnout. In the space where you are financially stable, having more time to reset and de-escalate stress responses is far more valuable than being “paid more”. I know there are plenty of people who will argue that they have all the time in the world, and it isn’t providing them stability. I’m not negating those struggles. I’m suggesting that the thing we are selling when we work is often our time as well as our skills and abilities.
Which means, that if I look at the biblical rules about giving, God calls for us to give of the best and finest of our crops and herds (yes, old testament, think Cain and Abel). Sure, I can give 10% of my salary, but there is something more valuable than that money. I could also be giving my time. Not just any time, but my best time. Time which I would rather selfishly keep for myself. Time when I could use that creativity for something which only benefits me. Or I can use that time to do something good. Volunteering, building things for others, the options are endless.
That time is more valuable than your monetary donation, because you are showing that you are a real human who truly cares. Building connections, offering people something incredible. That doesn’t mean your monetary gifts are worth nothing, and they do make a difference. Time though. Creativity. Fun. These are the things which change the trajectory of people’s lives.
So maybe there is an argument to be made that your best time should be volunteered. Not given to your employer, but given to a cause.
Time for me
I’ll say again, what I do with my time is under my control. Neither my employer, nor any organisation, can truly dictate where my time goes, or when I complete tasks for them. Sure, a group activity is limited to the time at which it is scheduled (my hockey club will never move training to 9am, alas), but I can choose whether I attend. I can choose how well rested I am when I attend. I can choose when I do the preparations. My time is under my control.
That means I should be able to say “mornings are when I am at my best, I should take some of that time for my own projects”. It is tough, because it means I have to give potato time to something else. If I spend an hour in the morning writing, that is an hour I have to spend in the afternoon working. Unfortunately, somehow it is non-commutative. If I spend an hour in the morning working, I do not have to spend an hour in the afternoon writing. If I am a potato I may choose not to write, even though I enjoy the process, or find value in it. This is one of those ridiculous false rules, where time given to other people is more valuable than time spent where I choose.
So, I should be able to choose to spend some of my best time on the things I want to do. Spend my creative moments world building. Writing stories. Creating art. Doing something other than the work for which I am paid, because provided I maintain a modicum of output, the employer doesn’t care when I do it. Provided I show up for my commitments, the organisations I am part of don’t care too much when I prep for those commitments.
It sounds wonderfully woke to say “remember to spend time on yourself”. Unfortunately the truth is that it is hard to do so. Going for a run before work which means I won’t start until 9am should be fine, surely? Except that if I start at 9 I have to work through to 5, and at that time it is too warm in my office and I just want to leave my desk and do anything else.
So where does it go?
Like everything in life, it is a choice. I fall into the trap of giving my best time to my work because it is easy and well defined, not because it is the best use of that time. Then I sit and watch as I start churning out more “stuff” than really makes sense to inflict on my team and I am reminded that outputs matter more than hours. I remember that it is okay to change things up. To start a bit later so I have time for writing or running or art.
I struggle with big blocks of time. If I could spend several hours at a go (rather than just one) on a topic it would be far easier to dedicate the good time to that. That’s also why work wins, because I am expected to be giving big blocks of time to work. So, every now and then I start experimenting with re-shaping my day, and I realise just how fragmented it can get, and how easy it is to fall into the traps of not doing the thing because the time block available is just barely the wrong shape. Or the day of the week is wrong. Or something equally silly.
So in the end, I don’t have a good answer, just a reflection. Time should go where it brings you the most value, if that is to your work and your employer, then good for you. If it is not then it is worth re-shaping things a little to find a way to have that time available. That being said, I somehow doubt my employer would be too keen on my suggesting that I should take Friday mornings as “personal project time” so let’s be subtle about where we claw back our time.
Pippa Hillebrand 