Is It Worth The Time?

Shabbat Table Talk from the desk of Rabbi Alexander Seinfeld

Jan 2-3, 2026 • 14 Teves 5786 • Vayechi (Gen 47-50).

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What would you do with three extra days a year?

If I told you that with a little extra effort, you could add three days a year to your life, would you believe me?

That would mean an extra month per decade.

There are in fact many ways to do this. Here’s one example.

Many people make multiple weekly trips to the grocery store.

There's the main shop, then there's the running back for the things that you forgot. And sometimes there's the tertiary shop. 

Even if it's only ten minutes away, the round trip to get that forgotten item is half an hour. And if you go during peak times, that extra trip could easily be 45 minutes to an hour.

And if this is your weekly pattern - that means that your extra trips to the store are costing you 4-6 hours a month. If a day consists of 16 productive hours, that's a full day every 4 months, or 3 days a year!

Now, because your three days of extra time are spread out in small chunks, the best way to utilize this extra time is by adding an activity that is specifically meaningful in small chunks, such as:

- Learning Jewish wisdom, one nugget at a time.

- Learning Hebrew (or any language), one phrase at a time.

- Learning to play banjo (or any instrument), one note at a time. 

- Learning to meditate, one breath at a time.

How can you save this time?

By investing a small amount of time in order to make your grocery shopping (or any repetitive daily or weekly task) more efficient.

1. Make a meal plan before you go. It's a boring task, but it liberates you. No more indecision in the grocery store. 

2. Once every two months, stock up on your regular non-perishables so that most weeks you only need to buy perishables. Peanut butter, grains, anything in a box or jar that you eat weekly, get 10x. 

3. Avoid peak hours (4-7 pm).

I'm using shopping as an example and it's one of the biggest opportunities to save time. But know that those saved minutes do add up - not to mention the benefit of lower stress. All that for the small effort of better planning.

Now, should you think, "This message doesn't really apply to me, as I don't do the shopping," or "I'm already as efficent as I can be," or "I don't believe that those saved hours really are worth the effort of being more organized," there's a fourth hack that is universal and is actually counter-intuitive for most people.

Despite our best efforts, we all end up waiting in a line once in awhile. And if it's not at the grocery store, it may be at the bank, or the doctor's office, the airport, or whever.

Is that waiting time "hackable"? 

We all know how most people use that time - "doom-scrolling" - or, as someone calls it, "dumb-scrolling." 

What if you used such waiting-room moments to 

- Learn a nugget of Jewish wisdom?

- Learn one Hebrew (or any language) phrase?

- Practice ear training? 

- Meditate?

(I know someone who uses every red light for a nugget of study!)

"The day is short, the work is abundant... You are not required to complete the work, yet you are not free to desist from it" - Rabbi Tarfon
"Do not say 'When I have free time I will study,' for perhaps you will not have free time." - Hillel
"Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom." - Moses (Psalm 92)
"If you love life, you love time, for time is the stuff life is made of." - Ben Franklin

Question for your table: What would you do with three extra days a year?

Shabbat Shalom


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