People are a good use of time

Efficiency isn't the top consideration in relationships

Part of any relationship is spending time together. Indeed, relationships tend to grow stronger as time accumulates.

Now, it might be nice if everyone in your life loved the same things you do, and was always extremely efficient in making those things happen.

Alas, that is seldom the case. However, I believe that it doesn’t really matter. Spending time with people is sometimes inefficient, and the activities they want to do may not be advancing you toward your life goals, but fundamentally people are a good use of time. So it’s best to prioritize that time, whatever it happens to look like.

For instance, in our house, the dog is mostly my husband’s responsibility — he really wanted to have a dog, and I most definitely did not want to get a dog, so that is the agreement we reached. One day not too long ago, when we were both working from home, he asked if I wanted to go to the dog park with him around noon to get our dog some exercise. Now, going to a dog park is not my first choice for a workday break. But I do like spending time with my husband. So I tagged along, and we got a low-key, kid-free chat in the middle of a Tuesday. People are a good use of time.

I’m sure you can think of plenty of activities like that in your life too. Maybe your kid loves going to a particular store like, say, Hollister, to browse. It’s not your favorite thing, and browsing is not an efficient way to purchase clothes, but your kid is your favorite thing. You don’t have to do it daily, but going on occasion is one way to make sure your kid will spend some time with you.

So as you think about your schedule for the week, think about how you could increase the time you spend with the people who are close to you. Sometimes one of the best options is doing something that, on its own, is not your favorite use of time. But if it allows you to increase your relationship building time, it’s probably worth it. People are a good use of time, even if the activity itself doesn’t always rise to that level.