Time Management is Presence Management
Time management cannot be the only focus of one's life. If we strive to maximize efficiency and time control, a self-reinforcing loop may stem out of that. By maximizing efficiency, you will likely complete tasks more quickly, but this will merely lead to doing more tasks in the span of a day. Chances are, the number of tasks to do will never slow down or stop. Maximizing efficiency and volume can lead to more "work", in the same amount of time, on repeat. This is similar to Parkinson's law: work expands to fill the time allocated to it.
Time is not something to maximize for in the future (if I do this now, I will be able to ...). You are time. Time manifests itself through our actions (and inactions). What if, as neuroscientist Sam Harris often suggests, there is no past and future? Think about it. Right now (present), I am writing this paragraph. I can be immersed in it, carefully thinking through each word keyboarded on the document. Or I could fantasize about what I will do once I am done writing this paragraph. Or I could bring to mind the big pint of German beer from two evenings ago, trying to recall its taste and properties. Yet, I am still writing this paragraph. That's all I am doing, even though the mind wanders in the past or future. There is only this moment. And each time we think about it, this moment has already passed.
While we may keep striving to take full control of time, I would argue there is no such thing. Human beings love the mere thought and feeling of control (especially if you score high in personality trait conscientiousness and dimension orderliness). Yet, control of time is a persistent illusion we will not reach. It's a dystopian belief. Such constant striving may also be presented as one of the causes for the decrease of genuine human interactions and spontaneity in most modern societies. More than a decade ago (before email or instant messaging apps became widespread), reaching out to someone would mean calling them by phone (or showing up at their door). The back-and-forth scheduling via email/instant messaging was not even considered a possibility. Email and messaging tools have their utility and contribution to a widely easily connected world. I am not trying to argue that we should go back to pre-messaging times just for the sake of signaling wisdom. The opportunities and communication channels unlocked by email and instant communication tools have been immense.
Due to the constant striving for time control, we also often attempt to plan attentively every activity for the day, without taking into account that life happens around us. Circumstances destroying our meticulous plans arise quite often. That appears to be an innate characteristic of existence. Time management is emotional management, as Nir Eyal argues in his book Indistractable. You are time, and time passes through you, in every action you perform on a daily, weekly, monthly, yearly basis. If you do not focus on what is most important for you, you will fall prey to a reactive mode of managing time, where efficiency maximization is the dystopian objective, and "busyness" the criteria for success.
Thanks for reading this week's Weekly Reflection issue. If you have any thoughts, just hit reply, and let's chat!
Simone