Discussion Forum > How do you define discretionary time?
Discretionary time is time when you have a choice about what to do.
Doing something in discretionary time is the opposite of having to do it at a specified time.
Notice that the difference is between discretionary and specified time, not between optional and non-optional tasks. So getting dressed, preparing and eating and clearing up after meals may be non-optional, but that doesn't mean they are not being done in discretionary time. If you have a choice about what time to do them, then you are doing them in discretionary time. If you don't have a choice, then you are doing them at specified times.
One of the problems people found when they started having to work at home during the Covid restrictions is that a lot more time became discretionary and they found it more difficult to manage. The fact that you don't *have* to get up at 7am and have breakfast in order to catch the train or take the children to school, gives you a lot more more discretion as to what you can do when. What many people found was that was a very mixed blessing because it took away an essential part of the framework of their day.
<< There's a further set of tasks which, strictly speaking, are optional, but which don't 'feel' optional in normal day-to-day life,,, Would you classify the time spent on those as discretionary, since you're free to choose WHEN they will be done? >>
Yes.
The fact that you are free to choose when the tasks will be done is what makes the time you could be doing them into discretionary time. In other words, you may need to do them, but you don't have to do them at a specified time.
Doing something in discretionary time is the opposite of having to do it at a specified time.
Notice that the difference is between discretionary and specified time, not between optional and non-optional tasks. So getting dressed, preparing and eating and clearing up after meals may be non-optional, but that doesn't mean they are not being done in discretionary time. If you have a choice about what time to do them, then you are doing them in discretionary time. If you don't have a choice, then you are doing them at specified times.
One of the problems people found when they started having to work at home during the Covid restrictions is that a lot more time became discretionary and they found it more difficult to manage. The fact that you don't *have* to get up at 7am and have breakfast in order to catch the train or take the children to school, gives you a lot more more discretion as to what you can do when. What many people found was that was a very mixed blessing because it took away an essential part of the framework of their day.
<< There's a further set of tasks which, strictly speaking, are optional, but which don't 'feel' optional in normal day-to-day life,,, Would you classify the time spent on those as discretionary, since you're free to choose WHEN they will be done? >>
Yes.
The fact that you are free to choose when the tasks will be done is what makes the time you could be doing them into discretionary time. In other words, you may need to do them, but you don't have to do them at a specified time.
March 22, 2021 at 22:19 |
Mark Forster
Mark Forster
For most people, tasks such as getting dressed, preparing and eating and clearing up after meals and getting ready for bed are non-optional. Would you classify the time you spend on those tasks as discretionary or non-discretionary, given that they usually have to be done at a specific time?
There's a further set of tasks which, strictly speaking, are optional, but which don't 'feel' optional in normal day-to-day life (e.g. housework, food shopping, laundry, admin, exercise, personal grooming, keeping family and friend relationships up to date). Would you classify the time spent on those as discretionary, since you're free to choose WHEN they will be done?