Acceptable Loss

We try to time everything.
The more we can cram into the work day, the more efficient we have become - right?  I want to see each step of each process become so efficient that we are calculating the seconds it takes to wash our hands - and then get back to work.  There are only so many minutes in a day and I like to think of "the day" as two parts - because I will eat lunch somewhere in the middle, and chances are: no work will be done.  Several things can happen... Something great will happen and it will come easy, nothing great will happen - but not much time will be lost, or the opposite of both - so time becomes an equation of "greatness" or efficiency, even in a world where efficiency is a mere sense, like satisfaction or happiness.
So, what's the point?

I work six days a week and do nothing on the seventh - but in those six days did any process become more efficient, is anyone happier?  And if neither was achieved, can it happen next week?

Everyone measures time, yep, some more than others, but the amount of time we measure maybe directly proportional to the amount of satisfaction we desire to achieve - and the amount we accept to loose.  This is not a rant about using time wisely, it can be assured that such a routine will come with varying frequency forevermore.  We know that we can be very productive when we want to - especially as we search for better ways to do things, but the lost moments are lost forever.
I spent five minutes staring at CNN this evening and (as far as I can tell) learned nothing.  Whatever information I gathered will never be used, and frankly, I could have spent my time otherwise.  On the other hand, what if there was something to learn there - or something that could possibly help me later in time - that's the acceptable loss.
Big Picture is:  If you have a brain, you will look for ways to use it, and if it's to be successful or make life easier for yourself or others - your brain will search for ways to make it happen.  It's "built-in".  I won't always learn something from CNN, or satisfy each client, or reach a goal in each relationship - but everyday I narrow the loss in these scenarios.
Read some Alan Lightman.