Until last week I hadn’t thought much about how our lives are structured, even though most of us clearly follow a set routine.

We wake at a certain hour, eat our meals at about the same time each day, and our free time is scheduled around our obligations.  Ask anyone who keeps a calendar of their appointments.  But for the past three days I’ve had no appointments.  For me that’s a blessing.

Why do our lives have to be so scheduled?  I have sometimes asked myself why do I have to eat breakfast before nine am when I’m on vacation?  After all, I’m on VACATION.  I should be able to eat breakfast any time I like.  The answer, of course, is that the tour company is picking up our entire group at nine am, and if they wait for stragglers all of us could be sitting around until noon.

This sentiment was captured years ago when Mel Brooks made a film called, “If It’s Tuesday It Must Be Belgium.” The film was likely inspired by a cartoon in the New Yorker with that same caption that caricatured American tourists reading a tour schedule, oblivious to the surrounding charm of a quaint European village. Point taken.  Maybe we all need more unstructured time to truly enjoy our lives.

But, for me, it’s Monday and time to write my blog.  Though I would vastly prefer to have it entirely written by Sunday evening, I seem to do my best work only to meet deadlines – not to exceed them.  (Perhaps this is a carryover from my school days when I always thought, “If there’s no test, why study?”)

I will admit that we do have to create structure in order to organize a group or to accomplish certain goals.  For example, try driving a car where there is no structure established by roads, signs, and painted lines.  You won’t drive as far.

But even so, in considering my current appointment-free schedule, I’m appreciating that in many cases structure is unnecessary.  Sometimes it’s easier just to enjoy life without planning every minute.  Especially for kids.

So, I suggest that we consciously employ structure as a tool, but take a vacation from it as frequently as we reasonably can.

It’s a lot more relaxing.

Whew!  I’m finished.

Alan

Actually, just a small part of my summer vacation.  And to be even more specific – how I spent last weekend.

First, a little background.

Many years ago, I developed an addiction to playing mahjong on my office computer. Since it was impeding my ability to get my work done, I deleted the game from my computer.  Problem solved. Or so I thought.

The following Saturday I arrived at the office knowing I needed to work.  Unfortunately, I also knew that the mahjong game was still on Cathy’s computer, to which I had the password.

I thought that a few minutes of mahjong would be fine. So at 9:00 am I sat down for two games – ten minutes, maximum.  Then work.

As you might have predicted, I was still sitting in exactly the same position at Cathy’s computer at 4:00 pm.  No work.  No lunch.  Just mahjong for the entire day.  It was, I must admit, glorious.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, last week I came across a free mahjong game on my iPhone.  There went Saturday.  But I promised myself on a stack of hundred-dollar bills (see the photo with last week’s blog) that on Sunday I would not play mahjong.  Not even once.

You’re probably ahead of me.  Yes, I also spent last Sunday playing mahjong.  I skipped breakfast, though I did stop for lunch and dinner.  Perhaps I’m getting my addiction under control?

Now for the rationalizations:

1. It doesn’t really matter in the great scheme of things whether I play a computer game for a day (or two) instead of reading a book.
2. I didn’t really have to work on weekends anymore.
3. I can’t think of any activity that provides me more reliable fun for an extended period.  (I once played mahjong on what seemed like a 20-minute flight from Maui back to Los Angeles.)

Okay.  Enough blog writing.

My iPhone is calling to me.

Alan

As many of you know, a few years ago I wrote People Tools, a guide for enjoying a happier and more productive life.  That book became a best seller and was followed by two sequels – People Tools for Business and People Tools for Love and Relationships.  One of my all-time favorites is the People Tool of “Sunk Cost,” which is both obvious and counter intuitive.  It is a strategy I have written about before, but it bears repeating because it can significantly improve the quality of your life.

Let me elaborate.

When I was studying accounting in college, the following question was posed.  Suppose a manufacturing company has just installed a new machine at a cost of $2,000,000.  A salesman calls, trying to sell the company a much faster, more efficient machine priced at $3,000,000. Should they consider a replacement?

The easy response is, “No, they just bought a machine that is brand new, and it is working fine.”  But that is not necessarily the more profitable solution.  In business, as well as in our personal lives, we need to focus on the future because we cannot change the past.

So we have to completely ignore the “Sunk Cost” of the old machine and compare the future cost savings and potential profit from each machine.

For example, if the new investment of $3,000,000 will earn back its entire cost in six months and make a significantly greater profit after that, then it is certainly an investment we should consider.  The previous “Sunk Cost” is irrelevant.  Whether the existing machine was purchased twenty years ago, twenty days ago, or twenty minutes ago makes no difference.  It is a part of the past that we cannot change, and this is why a “Sunk Cost” shouldn’t influence our decision.

Another example comes to mind.  Suppose you have just moved to New York to take a new job, and two weeks later your ideal position becomes available – in San Diego.  Would you turn it down because you have just paid to move your belongings across the country?  ”Sunk Cost” says that your past move is makes no difference.  If you think you will be better off, you should accept the San Diego job. Why thwart future opportunity and potential upside because of an expense incurred yesterday?

I also apply “Sunk Cost” to the use of my time.  Just because I bought a ticket does not mean that I have to sit all the way through a boring two-hour movie.

You have now invested three or four minutes in reading this blog, so I hope “Sunk Cost” will be worth your time.

Thanks.

Alan