"Never put off till
tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow.” – Mark Twain
There, I got this done just in time for the weekend! Please read this now so you can go about getting your weekend chores completed in time too.
When I started this blog, I had intended to write about one post per month. More than that would tax my puny creativity and less might mean people would lose interest. After two and a half years, I can say that I have more or less kept to this plan. But every now and then a month slips by without a post. Since I do not have a real deadline, I seem to be giving in to laziness. So I thought that I would try and make the best of it by writing about doing things in time.
We are loathe to do anything before it is necessary to do it. I am reminded of my college days when, if an assignment was due at 8 in the morning, we would do it the night before. But if it was due at 5 in the evening, we would do it during the breaks on the same day. I remember one occasion when the professor announced a paper that was due at the end of the term some 12 weeks away. One master planner among us wanted to know if it was due at 8 am or 5 pm! You knew when he was going to write the paper.
Jokes apart, I feel that this is actually a pretty smart way to plan and spend your time. Do what you must when you must, no earlier than that. By all means do things in advance, if you like; only make sure you are not obsessed with deadlines. Besides, being early is not always a good thing. The early bird may get the worm, but that means that the worm that decides to sleep in survives! Arriving early to a meeting only makes you wait for others to show up. In this sense, 'Punctuality is the thief of time', as Oscar Wilde put it. Why do something before it is necessary to do it? I mean, why rush to a red light only to stop? Let us do things just in time.
We are loathe to do anything before it is necessary to do it. I am reminded of my college days when, if an assignment was due at 8 in the morning, we would do it the night before. But if it was due at 5 in the evening, we would do it during the breaks on the same day. I remember one occasion when the professor announced a paper that was due at the end of the term some 12 weeks away. One master planner among us wanted to know if it was due at 8 am or 5 pm! You knew when he was going to write the paper.
Jokes apart, I feel that this is actually a pretty smart way to plan and spend your time. Do what you must when you must, no earlier than that. By all means do things in advance, if you like; only make sure you are not obsessed with deadlines. Besides, being early is not always a good thing. The early bird may get the worm, but that means that the worm that decides to sleep in survives! Arriving early to a meeting only makes you wait for others to show up. In this sense, 'Punctuality is the thief of time', as Oscar Wilde put it. Why do something before it is necessary to do it? I mean, why rush to a red light only to stop? Let us do things just in time.
Just-in-Time or JIT is a principle that has been successfully employed by manufacturing companies to improve overall productivity and quality and reduce costs for several decades now. We all remember how the Japanese car makers took over the US market using JIT manufacturing. The essence of this approach is to order just the amount of parts or materials needed exactly when needed. Holding on to parts not needed is a huge cost and is to be avoided. Inventory is evil.I am simplifying of course, but you get the idea.
This principle also spurs the aggressive marketing campaigns that paradoxically urge us to buy more. Any finished product must be shipped out to consumers without delay for holding on to it is way costlier than just holding the raw materials. So we are exhorted to buy large quantities of everything so that we can ‘save’ money. Yes, if you spend more money, amazingly, you are saving more. It is true that if you bought a 2-litre bottle of shampoo you are paying less per litre than if you bought a 200-ml bottle. But do you really need that much? Do you want to spend that much? Do you have the space to store all that? And what are you going to do when the company comes out with an improved version that you very much want?
One thing is certain - we save money for the company by pulling their goods out of factories into our homes and garages. The manufacturer does everything to reduce stocks (since it translates into cost) while keeping the factories humming. Meanwhile, the consumer unwittingly carries huge stockpile of things essential and not so essential. People fill their homes and even their garages with all sorts of things they buy in bulk because, you know, it's cheaper that way. And it is even likely that he is financing that through credit card debt. I am sure you appreciate the irony here!
This principle also spurs the aggressive marketing campaigns that paradoxically urge us to buy more. Any finished product must be shipped out to consumers without delay for holding on to it is way costlier than just holding the raw materials. So we are exhorted to buy large quantities of everything so that we can ‘save’ money. Yes, if you spend more money, amazingly, you are saving more. It is true that if you bought a 2-litre bottle of shampoo you are paying less per litre than if you bought a 200-ml bottle. But do you really need that much? Do you want to spend that much? Do you have the space to store all that? And what are you going to do when the company comes out with an improved version that you very much want?
One thing is certain - we save money for the company by pulling their goods out of factories into our homes and garages. The manufacturer does everything to reduce stocks (since it translates into cost) while keeping the factories humming. Meanwhile, the consumer unwittingly carries huge stockpile of things essential and not so essential. People fill their homes and even their garages with all sorts of things they buy in bulk because, you know, it's cheaper that way. And it is even likely that he is financing that through credit card debt. I am sure you appreciate the irony here!
Shouldn't we be buying things just in time, when we need them? I think we should all take a leaf out of the company's book and practice JIT too. That way we can employ our resources more efficiently and make our money productive as it will not be tied up in inventory. We can try out different products by buying in small quantities, we can save space, etc. I am sure you can add more to the pros of this approach. And I do not see any cons.
I believe this will have really far-reaching consequences if applied on a large scale, going back in the supply chain all the way to Mother Earth herself. Keep the tree intact instead of storing it in the form of paper, for example. We can give Mother Earth time to renew her stock! I know, I know – it is all too radical and Utopian. Besides, won’t the economy tank if consumer spending decreases? Well, I am no economist (and with that disclaimer, I can say almost anything about the economy now). Perhaps in the short run there will be an impact, but I think it will lead us towards a more sustainable way of living in the long run.
I believe this will have really far-reaching consequences if applied on a large scale, going back in the supply chain all the way to Mother Earth herself. Keep the tree intact instead of storing it in the form of paper, for example. We can give Mother Earth time to renew her stock! I know, I know – it is all too radical and Utopian. Besides, won’t the economy tank if consumer spending decreases? Well, I am no economist (and with that disclaimer, I can say almost anything about the economy now). Perhaps in the short run there will be an impact, but I think it will lead us towards a more sustainable way of living in the long run.
There, I got this done just in time for the weekend! Please read this now so you can go about getting your weekend chores completed in time too.
