A day in the life … (Blogger Idol, week 3)

… of my lunchbox

The one missing habit on that list of the seven allegedly possessed by highly effective people is remembering to take a packed lunch. It’s without doubt the only genuinely effective life habit I have ever formed and underpins many of my modest successes.

I ALWAYS have a lunch box.

It almost always begins the day holding: one ham or turkey sandwich (lettuce, cheese), two muesli bars, one Mars bar, one apple, one banana. A full water bottle is also a must.

Partially, I’m a cheapskate. Do the maths, $5 (or pounds) per lunch and drink time 5 lunches a week: that's $25 a week or $1,250 a year.

I also have a hummingbird metabolism and tend to fall over twitching if I don’t snack every hour, on the hour. (This explains the relationship of my lunchbox to my achievements. Occupying ground, twitching, is a poor fulfilment of most job descriptions - other than being a cricket pitch tarpaulin in a moderate breeze.)

But mostly, it’s the cheapskate thing. Which as a person recently returned to relative student poverty from relative wage-slave affluence, is not at all bad.

Especially when one has significant new expenses. Such as beer by the pint and textbooks (though perhaps mostly the beer thing).

At law school, several people referred to mine as a “magic lunchbox”, which I found a trifle demeaning - really. It’s quite a logistical effort to keep a fridge stocked with both bread and sandwich fillings. Let alone a cupboard of fruit and snacks. It just doesn’t happen on it’s own.

While my present tupperware container does the job just fine (ie it keeps crumbs in and notebooks out, and sometimes it even keeps crumbs out of the notebook computer), I was sorry to leave behind in Australia my large tin Batman lunchbox. It was nine-tenths of my cred as a commercial solicitor. It got me known as "eccentric" and "quirky".

(It was a law firm. It doesn't take much.)

PS For regular readers, yes, the thesis-draft thing went (eventually) fine. The snow was fun. Uni film groups (a New Year’s resolution) are great. Play rehearsals proceed. Each of these is an adventure unto itself I (and lunchbox) hope to unfold over the week.