The value of not doing something
July 30th, 2008 by Bill
When you don’t do something you free yourself up to do something else. This is the essence of Seth’s post today, The TV Dividend. But his post wasn’t the only one I saw today on the same theme.
My brother had a brief post on the value of not driving. He hasn’t driven for twenty-five years. I’ve never driven, so I’ve had the same advantage and for much longer.
In Seth’s post, he refers to the TV that so many are not watching. In his own case, he says, “I don’t watch TV and I don’t go to meetings.”
His point? By not doing those things, he has time for other things. That is partly what my brother talks about too.
I don’t drive. I don’t watch TV. And I’ve managed to rework my working life so I don’t have to take meetings (though, ironically, today I’ll be attending one - the first in months and maybe only the second or third I’ve attended this year).
I gain time as a result. And I lose frustration and stress, by the way. With this time, I’m free to do other things, hopefully more creative and fulfilling things (which I believe is Seth’s point). By not driving, I gain money (and again, lose frustration and stress). I don’t pay for a vehicle, I don’t pay for gas, I don’t pay for insurance and I don’t pay for maintenance.
Yes, there are trade-offs. Sometimes pretty big ones. Overall, however, I believe I come out ahead – very far ahead.
We sometimes do things because we always have. We don’t toy with the idea of not doing it. For many, it doesn’t even occur to us to try life another way.
But the gains of divesting ourselves of certain activities, toys, “stuff,” can be enormous.
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