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What are we supposed to do with our time?

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Jim Thompson

By Jim Thompson
HCP columnist

What are we supposed to do with our time?

In the days of old, when we were all farmers, this question would never have been expressed. In the farming world, there is always something to do.  

Yes, there is some recreation, but the farming life always leaves one with tasks to be done. A farmer’s willingness to do those tasks is rooted in professionalism, a sense of obligation and recognition that such tasks can improve what they own – their farm, their assets.

Since about 1870, 150 years ago, industrial and now office and gig jobs have taken over many people’s lives. For the majority of these jobs, the wealth-creating assets are owned by others, and many find themselves just selling their time to these asset owners.

Other activities have sprung up to occupy the balance of time between work and sleeping. It is no coincidence that professional baseball (e.g. the Cincinnati Reds) dates back to 1869. Golf and tennis are older sports, but were participant-driven, not spectator-driven more in those days than now.

Since those days, circa 1870, all sorts of activities have been created to fill the gap between work and sleep.  

But they leave us unsatisfied.

At work, we have unions driving a wedge between workers and employers. Many have developed an attitude of just doing the work for which they are paid. They wouldn’t think about investing anything else in their employer’s business, for they see no personal benefit.

The only place where it seems like employee-styled workers will put in extra effort are places like partnerships (lawyers, accountants and so forth).  

There is a way today to get a free education in about any subject under the sun, be it blue-collar or white-collar jobs. That source is YouTube. I defy you to find any avocation or profession that you cannot get a decent education on YouTube. It is amazing what is out there and what you can do with it if you are so motivated.  

Motivation is the key, not the resources to obtain this education. YouTube has changed this dynamic. 

I have operated my own businesses for most of my life. Sometimes they have been a side business and sometimes a full-time business. The last 33 years has been full time. It is hard, very hard, to operate your own business, or at least it is in the field I have chosen.  

So why do I do it? To have the freedom of the farmer. I don’t have hours I need to be at work (my average week has likely been 50-60 hours a week for the last 33 years). I don’t have silly rules I have to follow. And when I improve the business, it is for my benefit like the farmer.

But I do have rules. First, the business must be legal, moral and ethical. And second, I am in business solely to “spin the invoice printer,” for if you can’t spin the invoice printer, you can’t be in business. Everyone has an invoice printer. At the restaurant, it is a meal ticket. At church, it is the offering plate. You get the idea, and again, the invoice printer must be spun.

The question for you is this: What do you, not we, do with your time? Are you squandering it or improving the life of yourself, your family and your community?  

Or are you complaining about your employer?

Jim Thompson, formerly of Marshall, is a graduate of Hillsboro High School and the University of Cincinnati. He resides in Duluth, Ga. and is a columnist for The Highland County Press. 

Comment

Matthew (not verified)

18 January 2025

As a teenager on the family farm, one day I pondered how many tires we have mounted on the various trucks, tractors, wagons, and implements. A fully inflated tire is something that we take for granted, until the day comes when the fully loaded hay wagon dips and loses 23 bales along the road. Or when we're going to take the disc over to the other field on a Saturday evening, but the Massey Ferguson is leaking air and calcium chloride from the rear tire. All the tire shops are closed until Monday. Shed deer antlers have punctured many a tractor tire over the years. One of those old-fashioned ear corn elevators even has two pneumatic tires that have to be inflated every November for 5 days of use...

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