The first time I heard the expression “you have the watch, but I have the time” I was in Mali. I was surprised that a colleague in the military (part of the peacekeeping forces) didn’t wear a watch. It kind of blew my mind, our bosses were military and timeliness was an important part of the work culture for our team. Being late to the daily 8 AM team meeting meant you were subject to withering stares at best and a public shaming at worst.

But while I was perplexed at the absence of a timepiece on his wrist, he was unfazed. When I inquired in a dubious tone about his choice in (clearly haphazard) time-management, implying it could only be a recipe for disaster, he gave me a patience-young-grasshoper kind of look and sagely retorted “You have the watch, but I have the time.”

Granted, it still didn’t answer my question how as to how did he manage to manage his time. I mean, probably with his phone – it was 2014 so as we all know they were already practically appendages at that point. But it did give me pause.

I stopped wearing a watch regularly in Costa Rica, where thanks to COVID and pura vida there were fewer reasons to need a watch so I didn’t find it that hard. And still don’t. These days most of my fixed engagements are on my computer, in front of which I’m perched most of the time, and which has the time prominently displayed in the corner. And I’m always grateful for those pop-up reminders for impending zoom or Teams calls that only occasionally fail me when I’m completely in the flow of something else.

Subsequently I’ve heard the expression ” you have the watch but I have the time” a few times in Senegal, which is apt, since you really must be patient here for all things (note previous whinging about the bureaucracy), and where notably appointments and meeting start times are completely aspirational and subject to change at any time if they are not disregarded completely.

Speaking of needing to be patient in Senegal, this goes for doctor’s appointments and procedures, even at the military hospital in Dakar. So even patients need to be patient. Anecdotes from my recent ordeal in routine preventative health care could fill several blog posts, but not today’s. Too soon. Just glad it’s behind me. (Ha ha! It was a colonoscopy.)

It is a fallacy that I keep assuming that military outfits are going to be more “ship shape” and have stricter adherence to schedules. I did know of a colonel in the Nigerien armed forces who was known to close and lock the door to his meeting rooms one minute after the meeting start time, but he seems to be an exception not the rule, even in the military, at least in West Africa.

I most recently heard the expression “you have the watch but I have the time” when I was on a work mission in the North region of Senegal in early December. It was nice to return there and see the city of Saint Louis was bustling and vibrant, as it is meant to be. When I was there last Christmas it was doleful, a testament to the devastation caused by COVID. Happily it seems somewhat more business as usual this year.

Hope you are making good use of your time this holiday season! Best wishes for 2022!