on time and attention

We tend to speak of time as if it were the scarce thing. It is not. Time passes at the same rate for everyone, indifferent to our plans. What is scarce is attention: the narrow beam we can point at one thing and hold there.

An hourglass is honest about this. It does not tell you what hour it is. It only shows you a quantity draining away, and asks what you intend to do with it while it drains.

The practical consequence is simple. Protect the beam. Fewer inputs, longer stretches, one thing at a time. Everything else is decoration.