When your car breaks down out of town, what's the fastest way home?
A rental car, probably. Drive home, then drive back again once your car's fixed to pick it up. Drive home (again). Not ideal, but doable.
On my way to a recent work trip, my car broke down. I was able to reach my destination ~1.5 hours away from home. But I soon learned that, after getting my car to a shop, it was not drivable until it was repaired.
“I don’t live here, and I only had a hotel room last night,” I frantically explained.
“We can get you a rental car so you can go home, and then coordinate a time to drive back and pick up your car in a few days,” the kind man behind the desk said.
I didn't take it. Enter what the kids are calling “friction-maxxing.” Instead (the universe had my back on this one), I stayed with my husband’s uncle, who coincidentally was staying in a nearby Airbnb with a spare room. I stayed in town two days and nights longer than planned, to which most people might ask, “Well, why didn’t you just go home, dummy?! You weren’t that far from home.”
It doesn’t look like an efficient choice. But efficient isn't the same as intentional, and I've started asking a different question when I'm deciding how to spend my time: What does this actually cost me, all things considered?
On the friction-filled route, I got two days I wouldn't have had otherwise. I grabbed dinner with my husband's uncle and caught up in a way we don't often get to. I wandered downtown, finally exploring a bookshop I'd wanted to visit for a while. I worked from a different location, which is its own small kind of delight when you're used to the same four walls (friends who work from home know).
Making the convenient choice isn't the same as spending time intentionally. Sometimes the slower, less seemingly convenient choice is the better option.
What are you trading your time for?
The Tyranny of Convenience by Tim Wu for The New York Times
“The Art of Friction” on the If/Then podcast
An illustration from Grant Snider about a toad in the road on Incidental Comics
The 5-hour rule: How to turn a wasted day into a successful one by Jonny Thomson on Big Think
I’ve noticed that the English language uses the verbs spend, waste, and save when talking about two things: time and money. But time is the only real currency we’ve got.
I’m Alyssa Towns, and this is TIME INTENTIONAL, a newsletter exploring what it means to spend our limited (and precious) time intentionally in honor of Janet, Dale, and John.
Read more about the meaning and memories behind each section of the newsletter!
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