Will’s World: Time to think about how we use time

“All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.” I was probably about 12 when I read those words for the first time in JRR Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings.

Back in those days – when six-week summer holidays sped by in a flash and a one-hour maths lesson seemed to last an eternity – I had a very different grasp of time than I have now, so I wouldn’t have appreciated how very powerful those words are.

See also: How to save time, stress and cash in farm office routines

For those of you who weren’t hopeless nerds like me, that quote is from Gandalf. He was a wizard.

You know: cloak, long beard, wisdom, powerful magic, bit of a legend. That kind of thing.

Time lord

You might well be wondering where I’m going here, but I was reminded of all this recently when I listened to The Pasture Pod, one of the best farming podcasts I’ve come across, produced and hosted by the Gandalf-like Michael Blanche.

Episodes include a six-part series called “It’s About Time” that I’d highly recommend to anyone.

The premise is an investigation into time, and how it affects farmers, both within our lives and in the business.

And I suppose that’s the point really; as farmers, our entire lives, as well as our very identities, revolve around farming.

It isn’t something that we put to the back of our minds on a Friday afternoon and forget about until Monday morning, and there aren’t many of us getting 28 days of paid holiday, either, to rest and recharge the batteries.

So, all the time we have is occupied, either physically or mentally, by farming.

Missing out

But should it be this way? Is it healthy? And if not, how on earth do we even begin to change things, especially as nearly every farmer I know is short-staffed and under pressure right now?

(And the irony isn’t lost on me that the most recent podcast was released in early February, and I’ve only just found the time to listen to it.)

It’s something I’ve struggled with a lot in recent years, especially as a father of four young daughters and someone who loves to spend time with them and my wife.

I’m extremely conscious of how fast they’re growing up. Although they have a wonderful life, as most children do who are fortunate enough to grow up on a farm, I worry a lot that when they’re older they’ll ask me why I had to miss so many things they’re involved with because I was working, and why we didn’t go on many holidays together.

If I’m very honest, just the thought of that makes me want to cry.

It’s tomato time

That’s the reality of this life we’ve chosen for ourselves. Or is it?

Many of the farmers Michael speaks to throughout the series have very pragmatic and refreshing views on time and how to find the right work/life balance, from improving farm efficiency and production systems, to making lists of priorities and using the Pomodoro technique (I had to Google it too).

While most of them admit they still aren’t getting it right, just hearing such open and thoughtful conversations has helped me to start making a few positive changes of my own.

As the man himself says at the end of the series: “May you have time to make the right decisions, time to let your inner awesomeness loose, and may you have the time to savour each morsel.”

That sounds pretty good to me.