Time Investments

I was actually quite pleased with yesterday.  We had an extensive list of things we had in mind to do.  We got many of them done.  None of them were deeply profound but all needed to be done - either then or in the future.  Fixing a table.  Washing sheets.  Getting groceries.  Updating records.  Preparing leaflets.
I read somewhere recently that time assets are investments and time debts are an expense.  It was explained like this, “Time assets are choices that save you time in the future. Think: saying no to a meeting, automating a task, working on something that persists and compounds.  Time debts are choices that must be repaid and cost you time in the future. Think: saying yes to a meeting, doing sloppy work that will need to be revised, etc.”
I know that I do try to avoid time expenses.  It is not always easy though.  So often I think I will automate a task to make it easier next time.  I can spend so much time doing it that I wonder if it was worth it.  I am sure it is worth it, but occasional the task is not needed again or it is not embraced and my work remains mine alone.
I know it is not wasted time though.  I enjoy getting to the nitty gritty of something and if I am the only one who learns from it, I have learned from it.  Nothing is wasted.  There generally comes a time when what I have learned is useful to another.
Bit like fixing the table.  I was amazed to see that the screws that hold the table together are loose to the point that it is no surprise they come out and the table collapses.  This is the second one we have had to fix.  Our solution is to lightly glue the head of the screw so it can not work its way loose (but can be undone if needed).  We may be the only ones who know what is done, but it benefits anyone who uses the table.
I know I am not always successful, but I am trying.  It must be a very deep-seated memory as according to one teacher I am, “very trying.”