Forget Time, Attention is Our Most Valuable Asset
Ideas on pursuing our individual dreams, not the dreams of others. Learning to hear our inner voice to guide us toward them while filtering out the noise of modern society’s dream pushers.
Hi,
A time tracking app advertises a lot in our Brooklyn neighborhood. Its catch phrase is “Where did time go? It entices passerby to "discover tons more hours to bill”.
Lots of freelancers inhabit our and surrounding neighborhoods. It’s the right target market for these ads.
Unfortunately.
Billing for time is a relic of the industrial age. Henry Ford pioneered time-based performance measurement for assembly lines. Knowledge-based work adopted time-based billing somewhere along the way.
But why?
My sense is it happened unconsciously. It’s now generally accepted.
Here’s my take on why time-based billing is bad for clients and consultants.
Yet billable time remains the focus.
In my experience, our attention is our most valuable asset. Our attention is more important than our time.
Attention is what matters. It’s what creates value, in whatever form value takes in your work.
Think about it. How much value you create varies by day. It’s not directly proportional to time.
There is a direct correlation to value create and attention. You create the most value when you’re “inspired or "on a roll” or “in the flow”.
But it’s easier to sit at a desk for a set period of time each day, as opposed to finding inspiration.
Also, think about the marketing and ad industries. Think about how hard they fight to capture your ever diminishing attention.
So if attention is the value creator, why do we continue focusing on time?
Is it because chasing The Dream compels us to do this?
Let me know by replying directly to this email.
Catch you next week,
Chris
Photo of the Week
Image by justrollingwithit
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Semi-Random Thoughts
Please join me in welcoming back the Image of the Week ☝️ I’ve been using VSCO for my “better” photos for a while. Since ditching Instagram, I started using VSCO exclusively. It allows me to share photos without the distracting social components inherent to Instagram. My hope is you enjoy them!
I released my first app to the App Store recently. I’m feeling excited about this! It’s a side project that’s been stuck in my consciousness for a couple of years. I was finally able to focus attention on it starting last November, to push it through to release.
The app’s called Callcard Connect. It’s a simple and awkward-free way to exchange contact info with someone you meet. I’ve shared early versions with people along the way. They’ve responded favorably to it.
If you’ve ever found yourself fumbling with your phone to exchange contact info with someone, losing business cards or never getting around to adding them to your contacts, check-out Callcard Connect. Please let me know what you think if you do and thanks 🙏
Current Reading List
The Cabin Porn Book
The Cabin Porn Book by Zach Klein: Inspiration for Your Quiet Place Somewhere. From handmade tiny homes, rustic log cabins, to modern A-frames — Cabin Porn encourages those yearning of a simpler life in nature. Feature photography by Noah Kalina.
How to Build Your Dream Cabin in the Woods: The Ultimate Guide to Building and Maintaining a Backcountry Getaway by J. Wayne Fears
How to Build Your Dream Cabin in the Woods has 118 ratings and 14 reviews. Sarah said: Practical advice about buying land and constructing a cabin that f…
The Abundance of Less: Lessons in Simple Living from Rural Japan by Andy Couturier
The Abundance of Less has 133 ratings and 29 reviews.
Music of the Week
The Real LYFE 2/6/2019 by DJ Kervyn Mark | Free Listening on SoundCloud
Stream The Real LYFE 2/6/2019 by DJ Kervyn Mark from desktop or your mobile device.