The Clock

 Back in my days in Radio, my assignment, in broad strokes, was to convince PDs, program directors, that they, and hence their audience, couldn't survive another 24 hours without some, and preferably all, of our programming. I would spend my hours talking about formats, on-air personalities, markets, demographics, alternatives and local (for them, sports).

One of the tools that became a standard was the clock. Not like in, what times is it, but in looking at a graph of programming that the station currently was airing. So KJR in Seattle might have once slice from 0100 - 0440 of nothing but ESPN taped highlights of Seahawks games. Since saying that live national commentary from Las Vegas is better that recorded games seemed too easy, I took to hedging bets by guaranteeing a dramatic increase in audience in less than 90 days with the us vs them pitch. Once we got a contract in hand I, as marketing director, would put the machinery available to me in support of this ploy, into play. I always loved to wag the dog and have a dozen callers from The Emerald City light it up the first night. No one needed to know that we called them first.

The clock got a little dicier come morning commute, coffee, lunch, afternoon commute and, of course, prime time.

Since we were a sports programming network that was my genera focus, but we did manage to land a few trophies simply by the fact that we were free. Talk is, as has always been - regardless of medium - cheap.

I bring up the clock today because I have been working with my nephew on the concept of time management. He is 15 and like every other 15 year old, likes his iPhone. He likes it so much that it has skewed his understanding of prioritization. What was once balance as dictated by parents, coaches and teachers, it is now rippling outwards from his device.

The conversation is of balance, that wonderful, enticing, delicate and fearsome concept allowing one to maximize productivity and manage one's affairs. Especially important when one is 15.

It is, perhaps, too easy to break it into thirds, but not by much. I have been using this technique for many years, some of them very successfully and others dramatically so. And yes, it might be appropriate to mention here that I am a big fan of losing. There is that seed planted.

THE THIRDS

Mind, Body, Spirit. We must work (Body), we must learn (Mind) and we must access (SPIRIT). Break them down however they work for you but make DAMN sure you chop wood, read the instruction manual and count breaths. You can add as many as you like to your clock, just make sure their balance (run, write, sing, serve, wander, play, thank, help others, build, eat, sleep, hug the dog, wash the dishes, look at the stars, develop skills, honor your Mother, learn to grow things, call your friend, mow the lawn, study French, ride your bike, sit silently, test, train, race) equals all you want, or need, to do with this magical opportunity we call life.

The real test is fitting all of those into the 24 hours your clock holds for you every day.

If your clock is a four-slice pie: School, sleep, homework and video games, you are out of balance. Dude.