Volume 2 · The Discipline of Hours · Essay 296

Weapon Focus Phenomenon

Some ideas arrive wearing uniforms. Weapon Focus Phenomenon arrives in a kurta — plain, comfortable, and ready for work.

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.

It is worth keeping in your pocket not because it is always right, but because it is always available. A tool you carry beats a perfect tool you left at home.

Consider the farmer. He does not argue with the season; he arranges his work inside it. The city man does the opposite — he argues with every Monday and is surprised every Friday.

Time is the one currency the Reserve Bank does not print more of. And when you forget it — you will — the world will remind you. It is a faithful tutor.