The other day I had the opportunity to attend to a lecture about the consequences of the crisis. A few minutes after it started, I noticed that there was a deep boredom in the atmosphere. It turned out to be soporific and, to my regret, I could confirm while falling into a progressive state of lethargy that the speaker did not have the slightest intention of connecting with his audience and, much less, of rescuing them from their sleep, as is to be expected in these cases. When the speaker concluded his peroration, the conclusion of those present was clear: "this gentleman has wasted his time and, what is worse, he has wasted the time of those of us who have come to listen to him".

If we stop to think about it, we will find an infinite number of ways to waste time or make it easier for others to waste it. Turn on the television, for example, and wasting time is almost guaranteed.

In the labor field, over the years I have seen firsthand how in most companies in this country people's time seems to have no value. The consequence of this is one of the chronic diseases we suffer, commonly called "working late", "I stay late because of what people will say", "here the important thing to prosper is not to leave before the boss" or "you stay late, that's what matters", even if you are like the countryman who is sitting in a station watching the trains go by.

The unfortunate thing about this status is that what is important is not the quality of the work, but the quantity, it does not matter so much what is done as the time it takes to do it. This is paradoxical and goes against all the rules of productivity and common sense. If time is a scarce resource , let's make the most of it. Moreover, the more time we spend on fill in a task or a goal, the less productive our activity is, or to put it in clearer language, all the time we waste on work makes our work less productive.

It is curious to see how in other more civilized and 'boring' countries, punctuality is scrupulously respected and the time of others is valued. It is frowned upon to stay late at work, because that is an unmistakable symptom of unproductivity and is even unprofessional. If you stay longer in the office it is because you have not done your work properly in the time you should have done it.

Spainis different

"We're like that here," some say. "We waste too much time eating," say others. "The bosses have to change that by setting an example and leaving first," add many others. The point is that the house is still not swept and our productivity is pitiful.

The underlying problem is that time is not valued. Time is gold only in the saying. No one has the right to waste our time, not even ourselves. Time is the most valuable thing we have, both to work and to enjoy and make the most of our lives.

Valuing time means giving it the importance it deserves, both to work and to leisure time. It is about balancing our balance and respecting the time of others.

If all companies valued this precious resource fairly, we would be singing from the rooftops. Words like "conciliation", "schedule" or "punctuality" would start to make sense. I believe we would live better and be more productive.

It would be good to learn from these 'boring' countries, focus on the quality and excellence of our work and change unproductive habits in favor of our quality of life.