How many times have you been asked to show someone how to do something? They need to do it & you are the one that knows it best. It’s a great compliment isn’t it? Recognised for your knowledge & ability. Makes you feel valued.
You start to explain, but it doesn’t seem to land with them. They find it hard to do it. Maybe it’s your explanation? Maybe it’s them? One things for sure, it’d be quicker & easier to do it yourself.
So you do.
You do it. Takes you a few minutes. It’d take longer to explain it. 30 minutes explanation versus 10 minutes doing it yourself. No brainer. 20 minutes saved.
But think about it. Now you’ve done it & they can’t. How many times do you do it from here? Twice a week? Eight times a month? Ninety six times a year? That’s 960 minutes. Or to put it another way 16 hours. Or 2 working days.
That 30 minutes teaching doesn’t sound so long now does it?
It’s easy to see the short term time saving, harder to see the long term impact.
So, if anyone ever asks you to show them something, don’t think easy, think long term. It saves you time, creates you space and develops someone else.
To paraphrase William Yeats, “Teaching is not filling a bucket, but lighting a fire.”
So go & light some fires!