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What a Difference an Hour Makes

I was at a meeting recently where employees of a company were told that the billable rate was based on them working a 42 hour work week.  There's the expectation that a 40 hour work-week is the minimum hours required to work, below standard.  Working the 42 hours will ensure the company is making the correct amount of money on the employee.

Didn't sound like such a big deal, it's only 2 hours a week, right?

Then I began thinking about it some more.

2 hours over 52 weeks (yes, there are 52 weeks in a year) works out to 104 hours.  In more simple terms, that's about 2 1/2 extra weeks of work, more than half a month.

I was reminded of something I used to do quite often.  I'd say that the care has a whole bunch of time little problems all piled up and around each-other (in other words, it's majorly broken).  Little things can add up to huge things in very little time (maybe that's why I love square roots, they're a constant reminder of this fact).

So, I've only mentioned bad things that can come from this strategy, what about the good ones, right?

Think about those two extra hours.  If you're performing a job you really love and recognize as making a difference, what's a few more hours?

2 hours a week could be two meals shared.  It could be a phone call to everyone in your immediate family to catch up.  2 hours is all it takes to prepare and hand out sandwiches to the homeless.

In short, two hours can change lives.

Peace,
+Tom

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Anonymous said…
When I find I have a spare hour, I spend it catching up with friends by calling them or writing email. I call people at very random times because I don't want them to have to listen to a screaming child in the background. Which is why most people get emails.

I've thought about volunteering when Alex gets a little older. To show him how great it can be. All I would need is an hour here or there.

It's crazy when you think about how much time you might "waste" doing nothing. I'd really love to read more, but I just don't seem to have a nice chunk of time to be able to sit and just read.

Will there ever be 30 hours in the day? Either that, or I should start getting up at 5am so I can have a few hours to get stuff done.
July 22, 2007 at 4:00:00 PM EDT
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