The Time and Energy Game
Most of us understand the concept of return on investment (ROI). You deposit money in a bank; they pay you interest while lending out your money to others. You buy shares on the stock exchange hoping those shares will rise in value or pay dividends. You buy a bungalow so you have a place to live, a Chevrolet so you can go places, a week on Maui so you can relax.
As writers, we buy computers to write and edit on, and all the other goods and services we need to do our thing. Those too are investments, and it’s fairly easy to calculate whether the return on your investment is positive, neutral, or negative. A positive ROI is good!
When it comes to our time and energy, though, that’s different. How we spend any particular chunk of time can affect our life-force to the positive or to the negative. Call it energy, fortitude, spirit, drive, optimism, zest—we have it, and we spend it wisely or foolishly. Unlike time, our life-force ebbs and flows. We gather ourselves for a challenging task, we do the task, then we feel spent. We must recharge before facing the next challenge. The mental and emotional come together in the life-force.
I note that life-force is different from physical energy, but it augments it. One can be close to physical exhaustion from reaching a mountain peak After a long climb, or from completing a triathlon, and yet feel exhilarated, cheerful, ready to plan what’s next.
As writers, how do we care for and maximize our
