The wage you can't refill

Watch how carefully people guard a few dollars. The cashier counts the drawer twice. The contractor argues over a line item. You compare prices on a tank of gas, then drive across town to save four cents a gallon. We are sharp, even ruthless, about money. Then we let an afternoon go to a thread of pointless emails and feel nothing.

Seneca caught the same split in his own century: "men covetously guard their property from waste, but when it comes to waste of time, they are most prodigal of that of which it would become them to be sparing" (Of the Shortness of Life III, Stewart). The one resource you can never replace is the one you protect least. A blown budget can be rebuilt by next quarter. A blown Tuesday is simply subtracted.

This is yesterday's move, applied: the hours are your only nonrenewable wage. Treat them at least as well as you treat your wallet. When a request lands that would eat your afternoon, ask the question you'd ask about a price tag. Is it worth what it costs?

The clock doesn't take refunds.