Volume 2 · The Discipline of Hours · Essay 251

Sweet Spot of Effort

You may not know the name Sweet Spot of Effort, but you know the thing. This page only introduces the two of you formally.

What this concept offers is a pause — one extra beat between what happens and what you do about it. Civilisation, someone said, is measured in that beat.

The idea is simple, and like most simple ideas it is easy to nod at and hard to use. The nod is free. The use costs attention, every day, in small change.

The kirana shop opens at eight sharp, festival or fever. Ask the owner his secret and he will point at the shutter, not at his willpower. Systems outlast moods.

Time is the one currency the Reserve Bank does not print more of. A word is a lamp. This one is now yours to carry.