Time is the most precious thing we have. Attention is judicious use of that time, being where we want to be when we want to be. Obviously, the universe doesn’t always give us the hand we want (I don’t know many people who would choose to be stuck in stop-and-go traffic or waiting for a late airplane), but there are many other instances when we have much more control.

The two biggest places I seem to suffer with attention are in the car and in front of the computer. In the car, it’s not that I’m not aware of the road; it’s more of an inattention to my emotional state. As I said to someone last month, when I get in the car, for some reason everyone else turns into a jerk. Thich Nhat Hahn wrote that we are like a TV with 10,000 channels, and it’s up to us which channel we’re on at any given time. It seems that in the car, I tend to flip over to the “Jeffrey is incredibly impatient and judgmental” channel without even thinking it. Lingering car karma?

The computer is the other problem, and potentials are greater. My computer can be an incredibly productive tool or a distraction, or a mix of both. It can be a creative instrument, a means of communication, and a major procrastination tool. It is the device with which I make my living and much of my art. It is what I want it to be. So why do I find myself slipping so often into a mindless pattern when I’m using the computer? Marking time and circling (my dad would call it dillydicking) instead of creating? It makes me sad when I catch myself, because there’s so much great stuff out there to be made.

Merlin Mann has a great series of articles on making better use of time, which I recommend. It’s a good mix of Big Ideas and little things you can do to help that slide into inattention. His new habit of setting a start page to open up to “Is this really what you want to be doing right now?” in giant letters reminds me a little of the evening gatha: life is short, opportunity is lost. Don’t waste your life. Time is the most precious thing we have.