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The 24 Inch Gauge


As an Entered Apprentice Mason, in Emulation Ritual, we are taught about the various tools of a Mason.  The fisrts of which is the 24 Inch Gauge:

The 24-inch Gauge is to measure our work

Traditional stone masons would use this simple measure to size off the blocks of stone for rough cutting.  In freemasonry we are not all sotn masons, and use this to measure the length of the day:

In this sense, the 24-in Gauge represents the twenty-four hours of the day, part to be spent in prayer to Almighty God, part in labour and refreshment, and part in serving a friend or Brother in time of need, without detriment to ourselves or connections.

In the 21st Century there are a lot of demands on our time, with 24 hour connectivity to the internet, virtually instant communication, social media, Government health warnings, longer working hours, and the numerous other demands placed upon.  It can be extremely difficult to divide our time so simply into these neat boxes.

In order to effectively apply these principles we need to have effective time management. There are many different principles that we can apply, and each person needs to find the right one for them, and this can be case of trial and error.

Which ever you choose, it will require you to set priorities.

Setting the right priority to a task or action item, is essential.  The most common format for this is the quadrant method.


By concentrating on the top two quadrants, we can ensure that we correctly prioritise our tasks.

There are many other techniques, see below for some common ones.
7 Effective Time Management Techniques

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rM1A9zFkfHw