My never-ending quest for efficiency
As my Uber started driving to the airport, I opened up my backpack and said, “F***!”. My headphones weren’t there. With a 1 hour drive to Bradley airport plus a 3 hour flight plus 3 days away, this was no Bueno. I thought about asking the driver to turn around, but I was already cutting this flight close and couldn’t risk it. Ugh. I looked at my phone longingly, thinking about all the podcasts I wouldn’t be able to listen to while in public at the airport, on flights, or at the gym. For now, I was in a Lyft, so I pulled out my book and started reading.
Like many type-A personalities, I have an insatiable urge for efficiency...to use every minute to maximize my productivity. This isn't necessarily work-related (in fact, it’s mostly not work-related). It’s my personal goals, my fitness goals...it's all about how I am using my time in the most productive way possible. What could possibly be wrong? The logic is irresistibly seductive for a 'rational' mind:
1. Decide what's important to you for your wellbeing, happiness, and fulfillment
2. Execute on what you decide with relentless determination
3. Thereby, maximize your wellbeing, happiness, and fulfillment
What could be better?
As I stepped out at the airport, I walked in feeling utterly naked without my headphones on. Then, something strange happened. I started noticing things. I started watching people interact in the security line, enjoying little snippets of conversation with and without context. I noticed the signs along the walkway. I noticed the smell of the airport restaurants that I had walked by hundreds of times without a second glance. I saw an airport LEGO exhibit of Mark Twain’s house that fascinated me. I never knew he lived in a house in Hartford when he wrote his most timeless works. As I sat at my airport gate, I smiled as I saw a harried parent trying to corral her two kids, imagining me doing the same with my girls.
What was happening?
What I’ve started to realize is that time spent optimizing can come at the expense of time spent just being. By freeing my mind from tasks, I find myself rediscovering my other senses: the sounds, sights, and smells around me. My basic powers of observation. You don’t need to be at the top of a mountain or in the midst of nature - there’s a joy and beauty in discovering the wonders in small moments and experiences around you.
Here I am, the next week, in the midst of frantic last-minute packing to make yet another flight. I check my phone and see I have one more minute till my Lyft arrives. I see my headphones on the table and pause. I think back to my experiences without them and wonder if I’m better off leaving them behind. I hear a car pull up, think about the queue on my podcasts app, and grab my headphones as I walk out the door.