More, or Less?

 Should we do more of something, or less of it? That's more or less a perpetual dilemma, ain't it? Some people say Less is More, not sure what that means. 

Right from putting sugar in your tea..should I put more, or less? There is a problem with answering this question, because each has its consequence. More sugar means a temporary high, but a subsequent low. I understand brain function needs sugar- in some form. 

But look at time spent studying, say. Should I study more, and if yes, how much more? Should I sleep for 6 hours, seven, eight, ten? Or walk three kms., four, or six?

Play Golf 3 days a week, or all 7?

Practice an art-say, music, for how many hours?

You can see there are no clear answers. That makes things confusing, and we abandon good sense at times. For example, to do something useless when we could be doing useful stuff. Like shopping, to help the economy. But we don't. We simply forward stupid things on social media...how useless can you get?

Or read fiction-where's it going to get you, knowing who was the murderer? So what?

Productivity and Managing Your Time

Some things can't be rushed. A baby has to be nurtured/incubated for around nine months in the womb. But most other things can take different amounts of time. One way to do it is to practice until you are good at something, so it takes less time. The other major thing one can try is to avoid (big) time-wasters- I mean, pick a few, if you cannot avaoid all of them, but pick those which take relatively less time.

This post is actually triggered by a question from Writabrita Ray, my recent student. She asked me how I manage to pack in so many things in my day. One way might be to sleep four hours a day (like Mr. Modi?), but I can't do that. I need my quota. But the waking hours can be distributed according to what you like to do plus what you have to.

Travel is sometimes optional, but I like to travel because it is always a new experience. I do look for opportunities to meet people during travel (again, that is optional). I have met several ex-students, colleagues and friends/relatives in my travels- in the U.S, too, and in Indian cities, and in Singapore (there's nothing like a real meeting!). It also gives me a chance to take pictures, and pick up books- I am a book store addict! For some of my own books (like Marketing Research), I have made students work-I use their cases, with credit to them. That saves me time, and gets the work done. So share the work load- in legit ways- and be more productive.

Writing, I have been doing since I was an editor of a wall magazine during my MBA, and I started off with reports on campus events ( I still have the originals, ink on paper) and reviewing films. We also wrote small pieces about our classmates for the Year Book. Blogging came naturally, and book-writing, not so naturally, as it is hard work. Hearing someone say they read it, is priceless though.

Ok, so the point is, I guess, you do more of what you like, some of what you have to, and avoid time-wasters. I control my TV time (almost nil these days), phone time (likewise), and find that I have plenty of time left to do what I really like doing! Karaoke partying is one of those. I also find social media, with its 2-way communication, more energising than TV-watching. It's also a great source of ideas, like the one for this post-and fun!

Doppler Effect

If you remember your Physics, the Doppler Effect causes the sound of an approaching train to get bigger as it gets closer, and smaller as it recedes. My new hypothesis is that we face the Doppler Effect in events that are happening around us too.

Anything, from an election result, to a break-up, always feels as if it has a great impact on our life for a few days after it happens. We think that the new political leader will change everything for the better -in the case of election results. If it's a break-up, we may feel that it's the end of the world. But the world has not ended in spite of many predictions of its demise attributed variously to the Mayans and Nostradamus.

So, as time passes, most of these things reduce in importance, and we reach a state of unattached, neutral, or at least less noisy state as it pertains to the said event. Our high expectations, or suicidal tendencies, as the case may be, give way to equanimity, and we can sometimes even laugh at our previous ideas about the importance of these things to our lives.

Life goes on, in other words, and sometimes for the better. Now, you know why they taught us about the Doppler Effect.

National Time-wasting Strategies

There is something we are no.1 in the world at- apart from producing babies, I mean. It has not been documented or certified, or we'd be at the top of the pops (no, not the baby-producing ones, the charts). We are the no. 1 Time-wasters in the world.

Time-wasting strategies, like those of corporates selling umbrellas, are seasonal. In April and May, we have the IPL- a so-called cricketing extravaganza, in which the cricket is hidden in a maze of before the match, after the match and during the match interruptions. Don't ask me how you can interrupt before the match-ask THEM.

In June-July, we crib about rain. Either too much, or too little. Shakespeare was right when he said something about floods leading to fortune. Famine or drought also leads to fortune for some.

August is a month we worry about foodgrain production not being enough. In September, we start planning vacations for the next three months. In the next three months, we actually go on holidays for Dasara/Durga-pooja, Diwali, Christmas, New Year, and a few others in between.

January is spent talking about the New Year party and the Christmas holidays, and how we plan to actually work in the new year. February is usually a mixed month, because there is an anticipation of a budget being presented at the end of the month, and March is spent dissecting the same after it is presented.

Test matches, football matches (even though we rank 189th out of 190 in the world here) and price hikes from onions to petrol, and evil bosses at work to destroy our careers are other hot topics. Celebrity gossip (whether Aishwarya is pregnant a second time, etc.)  takes away whatever remains, and we are left with little time to contribute to our GDP. No wonder we are growing at a snail's pace again.

And then, when we have the time, we crib about not having any.