BUSINESS WAITING . . . . . . . .
What are you waiting for?
“Annnnny-daaay, noow . . .”
The once famous bank commercial mocking out competitors for their loan waiting times seemed appropriate. How much time did you spend waiting today? How much of that time was a total waste?
WE WAIT AT, AND IN: lines, offices, reception rooms, hallways, cars, trucks, construction sites, showrooms, restaurants, parks, parking lots, airports, taxi stands, bars, elevators, boardrooms, alcoves, bathrooms, meetings, conference rooms, the water cooler, fax and copy machines, roach coach, training centers, message centers, traffic, bridges, trains, busses, hospitals, airplanes, taxi’s, garages, food lines, courtrooms, examination rooms, visitation rooms, toll booths, ticket counters, lobbies, check-out counters, subway stations, ferries, zoos, concerts, planetariums, sporting events, banks, drive-in pharmacies and fastfood windows, doorways, road construction lanes, and 487,000 others.
AND WE WAIT FOR: bosses, clients, doctors, lawyers, co-workers, underlings, salespeople, associates, lunch dates, online connections, conference calls, on-hold, dinner dates, traffic, bridges, trains, busses, airplanes, taxi’s, breakfast dates, coffee breaks, lunch whistles, clocks, scheduled events, calendar pages, waiters and waitresses, deliveries, contractors, news, alarms, prisoners, bankers, seminars, meetings, accountants, patients, families, friends, people who beat us to the bathroom, and 269,000 others.
AND WHILE WE WAIT, WE SUFFER FROM:
- ANTICIPATION.
- ANXIETY.
- WORRY.
- ANGER.
- EMBARASSMENT.
- EXPECTATIONS.
- DISAPPOINTMENT.
- STRESS.
- INSULT: BEING “STOOD UP” OR FORGOTTEN.
And what do you DO when you’re thrown into that jungle described above? What did you do today in delay? And don’t try to excuse yourself with some haste makes waste explanation because I know that you know that each of the bullet items above is a CHOICE! The only thing that makes waste is waste. Waiting time is valuable.
HOW ABOUT CHOOSING FOR THE WAITING TIME TO BE HAPPY AND PRODUCTIVE TIME, AND USE IT TO: Write? Take notes? Take pictures? (I met a guy created a complete photo essay while standing on line at the post office, and actually published it!) Text Message? Make phone calls? Plan? Follow-up? Research? Read? Make contacts? Make contracts? Network? Study?
Can you, in other words, do something more constructive with your valuable time here on earth than to stare like a zombie at some waiting room TV tuned to some negative news network? Just because you have to wait, doesn’t mean you sacrifice your humanity for sheepdom.
Always carry pen and paper and/or laptop and/or tape recorder and/or camera and/or a book you’re reading and/or a cell phone and/or some luggage to put all that stuff in . . . and don’t forget the umbrella and parachute . . . hey, ya never know!
Some action, remember, is always better than no action . . . unless “action” to you means smoking, drinking booze, eating candy bars, snorting or shooting up drugs, punching/biting/kicking, stabbing, shooting, or bank robbery.
And you may think, like the song, that “My time is your time,” but it’s not! Because you only ever have NO time or LOTSA time, or ANYtime, or SOMEtime, or have been having a HIGH time for a LONG time. Oh, right, there’s America’s PASTtime, which is a great way to PASS time in the SUMMERtime or SPRINGtime, but seldom in the WINTERtime.
If all that’s not enough for you, remember that “Time and tide wait for no man.” (No mention of women in that philosophy so it must be because women have “THAT” time), and then there’s “He who hesitates is lost” (which most men are!). Okay? Okay. Later. halalpiar
Great post. Particularly relevant in this time when it seems like we’re all waiting.
Thanks, Marilyn. Your compliment and your comment are both much appreciated.