Earlier day I was thinking about what to write about and seeking inspiration from perusing my office bookshelf…

Upon perusal I noticed a book I hadn’t read for a while. A book, published in 2019, called “Time and how to spend it”. Now I read a lot, but often forget the insights I’ve collected from all the books I’ve read. To be frank, I need to get a bit better about having post it’s, highlighting my books and writing in my books, that can’t face doing this!

The interesting thing about this book is that whilst we might be reaching a time in our lives where we’ve reached ‘relative’ financial security, time is the most finite resource we’ve got and how we spend it, particularly when we’ve got less left, becomes more vital.

James Wallman in the book provides a framework which might be useful, which is the reason I’m sharing here:-

Story – Humans love to tell stories, and experience stories we can tell about our lives. Time is well spent if we can tell stories about the experiences we have. Which is why travel ticks a lot of these boxes!

Transformation – In the model we’ve built at whathappensnext.life we talk about growth (when it comes to staying mentally and intellectually active) and purpose and in this book Wallman advocates for experiences which will provide mental stimulation and encourage us to see purpose in our actions.

Outside and Offline – Wallman talks about the importance of ‘real life’ experiences and how they are linked to the memories we cherish the most. It makes sense, doesn’t it? After all, who ever talks about time well spent when they’re thinking about the time they spent sitting in their house on Facebook! 

Relationships – At Cervello and on whathappensnext.life we talk a lot about social wellbeing. One thing is for sure, our relationships matter. Spending time with people we love and like is vital for time well spent.

Intensity – The more we ‘feel an experience’ the more happy it’ll make us. There’s plenty of evidence which talks about the importance of getting into ‘flow’ and the more intense we can dig into an experience the better for us it is.

Extraordinary – We’d neve describe the daily commute as ‘time well spent’ and part of the reason is we do this every day. Time well spent is about novel, unique experiences. Doing things out of the ordinary and experience the things we promised we’d do ‘when we had time’. I’d definitely recommend James Wallman’s book and as every thinking about your ‘free time’ through the framework above. I’d also love to share your favourite book about time and how to spend it…so feel free to email me – Chris@Cervellofp.co.uk to tell me more!