The “pants of life” and the pockets which you fill.
When I get some spare change, I tend to shove it in my front left pants pocket. But for some reason I find change in other pockets as well. Even the pockets I have dedicated to items such as my phone, keys, or important papers. It seems that no pocket is safe from having some change placed in it.
I aim for clothing with the least number of pockets possible. Pants with two front and two back pockets are all I need. Backpacks with one main compartment, one smaller compartment, and not much else work wonders for me. Why avoid the opportunity to utilize more pockets for greater organization? More pockets means more places to put stuff after all.
My experience with having more places to put things has lead me to the conclusion that more places to put things begets more things to put in those places. So more pockets means more stuff to carry around, and if there’s one thing I like to avoid its having to carry stuff around.
It seems that even in my limited pocket life of approximately 4 pants pockets, I still find ways to fill each and every one. Phone in one, keys in another, receipts in the back and spare change overflowing into all 4. No pocket is safe from the world of stuff.
Obviously my use of pockets could be explained by habit. I don’t use cash very often, therefore during the rush of exiting a checkout counter I will place the change into the first pocket that comes to mind. No particular pocket has found its way into the habit of coin collecting. But my pocket habits aren’t the reason behind this story.
Pockets and their contents, in this case change, are a compelling metaphor in regards to how we spend our time. Each pocket represents a skill, an experience, or an aspect of ourselves we wish to invest time in. And just like a purse or backpack with more pockets than you could ever possibly utilize, we tend to have too many “pockets” in our own lives.
Each and every pocket we fasten upon the “pants of life” is yet another place to put stuff. And each pocket calls to us for attention, wanting us to put some stuff into it. Driven by the fear of missing out, and the desire to do great things with our lives we are compelled to give each pocket some of our stuff. Which in this case, our stuff = our time.
As many a self help book would tell you, sooner or later you will need to focus your efforts in order to make significant progress in your life. This means losing the cargo pants and 101 pocket backpack and slipping on a nice pair of work pants and a gunny sack. Okay, so maybe you need a few more pockets than that, but you get the point.
Every pocket you have will compel you to place stuff into it. With more pockets than you can practically use, you spread yourself thin. When you have fewer pockets, you have fewer places to put your stuff. Meaning every time you place some stuff in your pocket, you are moving forward on something you care about.
How many pockets do your “pants of life” have?
