Busy people all make the same mistake: they assume they are short on time, which of course, they are. But time is not their only scarce resource. They are also short on bandwidth. By bandwidth I mean basic cognitive resources - psychologists call them working memory and executive control - that we use in nearly every activity.
Interpretation
People often think they lack time, but they also have limited mental capacity for tasks.
This quote emphasizes that individuals, particularly those who are busy, frequently misinterpret their challenges as merely a lack of time. In reality, they face a dual constraint: not only is time a limited resource, but so is their cognitive bandwidth—essentially, their mental capacity to process tasks and make decisions. This highlights the importance of understanding our mental limitations in addition to our time constraints.
In practice
During a team meeting, one might cite this quote to highlight the importance of managing both time and mental workload when assigning tasks.
Economists specialize in pointing out unpleasant trade-offs - a skill that is on full display in the health care debate. We want patients to receive the best care available. We also want consumers to pay less. And we don't want to bankrupt the government or private insurers. Something must give.
Faced with a time shortage, we squeeze tasks into the nooks and crannies of our calendar, leaving less and less time to switch between them. As a result, we become less and less productive exactly when we need to be most productive.
The problem with data is that it says a lot, but it also says nothing. 'Big data' is terrific, but it's usually thin. To understand why something is happening, we have to engage in both forensics and guess work.
There's a popular image of people who don't save for the future as lacking in self-control. But the reason saving is so hard has less to do with self-control and more to do with a scarcity of attention.
January is always a good month for behavioral economics: Few things illustrate self-control as vividly as New Year's resolutions. February is even better, though, because it lets us study why so many of those resolutions are broken.
Necessity never made a good bargain.
You will be at your best forever, Even now you have good moments. Occasional glimpses of your heavenly self. When you change your baby's diaper, forgive your boss's temper, tolerate your spouse's moodiness, you display traces of saintliness.
You can't teach the old maestro a new tune.
Maybe the fear is that we are less than we think we are, when the actuality of it is that we are much much more.
Awareness cannot be taught, and when it is present it has no context. All contexts are created by thought and are therefore corruptible by thought. Awareness simply throws light on what is, without any separation whatsoever.
The world does not require so much to be informed as to be reminded.
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