Daily Dose 41: Accrued Benefits

For those more familiar with the kitchen than the tool shop, one of the time tools over there in the corner looks strangely familiar . . .could that really be a carrot hanging above the workbench?

An office worker recognizes it as a record of rolled over unused vacation days and personal time off hours, common accrued benefits  of the business world.

The entrepreneur is sure the tool looks a bit like the passive income generated by the interest, rental income, and astute investments he is used to seeing.

Think of the tool as accumulating future benefits. A small benefit, of little value at the present time, but increasing consistently over the years until it reflects a substantial amount.

Always eager to view home life as a career with “professional benefits,” I have used the term accrued benefits for many years now to remind me of the “bonus” time that begins to amass when good habits start by saving a little time, then build until they provide a consistent buffer against emergencies, which, in turn, allows the time steward to make an unexpected trip or meet a last minute need and still take it in stride. A key difference is the business person cashing in their accrued benefits sees extra money, but we feel extra time.

As enjoyable as some of the home-based accrued benefits are: feeling comfortable about last minute company ringing the door bell, the car always ready to leave on a big trip, an en suite that is a pleasant retreat (unlike my bedroom, often known as the sleep-in walk-in closet), or time for tea and a book even in a bustling day, the most rewarding reward of all is the child well-prepared for spiritual adult living.

Let’s take a peek at a mythical apprentice, a time steward trainee growing up in a home where he (or she, but we’ll stick with “he” for this “vision”) never remembers not being responsible to make his bed. The bed-making process underwent occasional time trials both to see if he could improve his time, and to decide what process changes might shave off more time. He figured out the best day to change the sheets, and he ran experiments about the most helpful place to store the second set, if there was a second set.

Because it was always his job to do, he knew it was work, but it did have a game-like feel getting timed with the stopwatch, and it seemed like adult work since the grown-ups had random conversations with him over the pros and cons of various bed making options (Did he think it was easier for the bed to be against the wall or pulled away?).

But when Steward Trainee heads to college, time tracking moves out of the bedroom, giving him a tool to determine how much prep time to allow for reading anatomy chapters and process training helps him figure out how to tackle the information effectively. Since maintaining his personal environment skills have been on automatic for years, the habits don’t fall apart in the dorm or first apartment. He’s used to experimenting and analyzing different procedures to do a repetitive task, so it’s natural for him to think that same way as he studies how to be more efficient, not just with his study time, but in his college job as well.

Yet many mothers think make-the-bed training at age three is too much trouble.

Far from it. Automating the personal space and clothes stewardship processes and assuming major food stewardship time while any child is young builds long term accrued benefits, not just for the executive overseer, but for the apprentice as well. Isn’t that a juicy enough carrot to keep your hands off his bed and on the stop watch and clip board instead?