Two percent

Apr 22, 2019

perspectivetimeweeksyears

I used to work with a man called Michael who changed the way I think about time. It was the first day of the second week of January 2014, and he observed that we were 2 percent through the year.

I had never thought of one week in those terms. A year is obviously a significant amount of time, while weeks seem to come and go. Two percent is little enough to make sense with how weeks feel, but large enough to make each week very meaningful and precious. It is daunting to think about a fortnight as nearly five percent (!), and I now can't plan a long weekend without thinking about it as one percent of my days this year.

I think a decent amount about time (it is the only thing we have, but that is a topic for another day). Wait But Why's bits on the subject are particularly thought-provoking and terrifying, while my cousin's edict to "max your days" is always ringing in my ears.

If I told Mike how often I thought about two percent, and by extension about him, I think he would probably find it kind of strange.