Time Suck

A colleague uses the title phrase to describe any activity which consumes an apparently inordinate amount of time. It is subtly different than "waste of time."

Years ago, the "efficiency experts" whose family life served as fodder for Cheaper by the Dozen performed timed activity tests to determine the most efficient way of accomplishing physical routines. Trying to apply the same principles to personal life generated comedy.

A TV interview with Robert Caro this past weekend revealed that President Kennedy's doctor had designed him a desk that made his writing work space more efficient and relieved the excruciating back pain he'd experienced using his former desk. But it did not speed up his painstaking research and meticulous self-editing which means he'll work a decade to produce one massive volume in his monumental study of Lyndon B. Johnson.

On the other hand, one can ponder the attitude of "deadline poet" Calvin Trillin.

Sometimes learning a new skill or studying a subject can gobble substantial blocks of time. The clock's hands seem to whirl during the process of composing, refining, and revising a simple blog entry.