When I sat down to journal on the "Why am I so busy?" question, the following quote came to mind:

If you'd asked me as a kid how rich people became poor, I'd have said by spending all their money. That's how it happens in books and movies, because that's the colorful way to do it. But in fact the way most fortunes are lost is not through excessive expenditure, but through bad investments.

— Paul Graham

The same seems to apply to becoming time-poor. You can waste hours and days on entertainment and distractions, but you can waste weeks and months by working on the wrong thing.

Perhaps, beneath all of the mega-sales and pageantry — the holidays are a useful system shock. An opportunity to take inventory and rebalance, to set aside time for what's important... and to, maybe, just for a moment, get ahead of your todo list. :)

Wishing you health, courage, and the wisdom to make good investments.