What a waste
I read recently that the Tetris website has games on it that are designed to last exactly the time it takes to travel between stops on Japan’s commuter trains. This struck me as an extremely efficient way to waste time. Tetris is a real time waster – addictive and consuming and lots of fun – and I guess there is a demand from Japanese commuters that they get as much of it as they possibly can in their allotted ‘downtime’.
I do it, too. I enjoy an evening in front of the TV when I can but hate adverts and filler. So I look at the listings and meticulously plan my viewing schedule: ‘Is this programme on a channel that has adverts?’, ‘If so, can I use the Watch Again feature on my cable to see it another day?’, ‘Can I fill up this 1/2 hour gap with anything I have left over to watch from yesterday when there was two things on at the same time?’.
I think I see it as just another area of my life to strive for efficiency and fulfilment in. And rather than see the entire of TV output as a waste of time I choose to pick out some things that I can justify as being worthwhile, or entertaining. That way I can sneer at people who veg out in front of inane reality shows or vacuous celebrity features while I’m wasting my time more valuably. After all, I’m learning lots about the secrets of our solar system while watching that jolly indie-band professor. And after a few more episodes of Burn Notice I’m sure I’d be able to walk into a job at MI5.
It’s as though me, and the Japanese Tetris-addicts, are scheduling our leisure time the same way as an executive schedules his day. It’s definitely a modern way to relax but I wonder if it really makes for a more fulfilled life. By pushing our leisure activities right to the edges of the time we’ve got to fit them into are we missing time to think? My blogging partner, Paolo, always says it’s good to get out of the office and go for a walk in the park. And while some might perceive that as procrastination (or even, as I suspect, a squirrel fetish) it might just be that he’s pushing back the edges between work and leisure and leaving some time for thought. If we don’t leave any spaces where the mind is free to think, or just wonder, how are the ideas supposed to get in?
Time to think about commutes, or evenings and weekends, as not only blocks of minutes to be managed with ruthless efficiency, but as it used to be known – ‘free time’. Free your mind.
