Maybe a subtitle for this should be:
How Daylight Savings Time affects the 21st Century Entrepreneur.
Because, let’s face it, daylight savings time isn’t natural.
The concept of time itself is a human construct, as we explored in depth together last week, but at least it makes some logical sense based on the circadian rhythms that surround us.
A day is the passage of the sun into darkness and then light again.
Just like it says in the good book. You know, “God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning–the first day.”
Good old Genesis 1, verse 5.
A concept with warm fuzzy familiarity.
I slept in a little, without an alarm this morning, and when I got up it felt LATE!
Because at this point in my life I have a digital leash that goes in and out with me, near to hand on the nightstand.
When it said, “9 o’clock, buster,” I said, “Whoa!”
But it’s really not a big deal, because the universe is still doing its thing, like always.
The sun comes up, the stars come out, there is evening, and there is morning.
It will mess with the dog for a couple of days, but she’s a finicky eater anyway. We’ll just put it down twice a day for her, like always.
The reason for it, the “savings” part, has to do with energy conservation.
We are told.
That’s actually highly debatable, bordering on good old-fashioned bullshit in this man’s opinion.
Studies in some parts of the country have concluded an observable increase in energy, in fact, due in part to additional use of air-conditioning.
I like to think about the effects of things on my businesspeople, and I have to kind of dig a little, really.
It’s not that big a deal. The inconvenience of changing wall clocks in the good old days is lessened now by our devices, the main source of our time reporting, doing the deed for us automatically.
I grew up pre-personal PC, and may be a little more grateful than younger people for this convenience.
I take it for granted most of the time, but when I think about it, I’m very happy I don’t have to stick my finger in a rotating dial and wait for it to come back to the stop seven to ten times to make a phone call.
If you screwed up in the middle, you had to bang the handset down in the cradle in frustration and start over.
If you’re feeling me, you are my people.
And hey, cheer up! There are more people turning 60 then 20 lately.
We deserve to be taken seriously by the marketplace.
But, getting back to clocks…
A home office is our headquarters, and I have been given two analog clocks that hang there as gifts over the years.
I love them both. One is the circle of fifths in music theory, and the other has 12 IRS forms and publications titles around the face.
I haven’t even taken them down and dialed them forward yet. But I’ll get to it later today.
A category of workers that are possibly affected by the time shift are the outdoor workers.
I would venture to guess that the percentage would be extremely low, though, because if you’re working your butt off outside you have to stop and rest at some point.
Oh, I know some people work 12-hour days. I used to do it myself, that’s how I know.
DST didn’t change that one bit. Working on a core drilling rig, it was about keeping the whole annulated and full of flowing fluid.
They were willing to pay 44 hours of overtime a week, is the motivation for doing such a crazy thing.
And we didn’t give a squat about daylight savings time, except on the night in the spring we lose an hour of after-work reveling to it.
The night that occurred last night, in fact.
Nevertheless, the work has to get done, no matter what the hell the clock has to say.
I would venture to say, in conclusion, that the effects of the daylight shift weigh more heavily on those organizations that measure work output in time.
Those with employees, in other words. They’re trained to live by the clock, and you’re trained to measure their performance by it.
Take heart, entrepreneurs! If your gig is that you working independently, with or without independent contractor help you don’t have to track time for, this really has very little effect on you.
I would venture to say, therefore, that besides creating a life for yourself where your wealth creation is limited not by your worth to another, but to your own imagination and energy…
…another benefit is not having to give a squat about daylight friggin’ savings time.
Though I suppose it’s one less hour to get your business tax return in.
But that’s more my problem than yours, and honestly, it’s not a problem for me, either.
We’re doing the work, but I’m also getting the sleep.
Giving you the best possible version of myself, as it were.
Plus, I’m a big fan of being able to think at 100% capacity.
I hope you found this useful, or at least amusing.
It was meant to be encouraging, too.
Time is valuable, but it’s also fluid.
Enjoy your time today, and make it amazing!