Your Relationship with Time: Make Time Your Ally.

tumblr_nuz024Q2Gd1u80dlxo2_1280

(By Galaxy Eyes – artwork for sale here)

I was thinking and wrote something-something a la 86400 seconds but with less maths.

If you ain’t into that, have a nice Monday and I’ll see ya’ll later.

A lot of us have a difficult, if not downright dysfunctional relationship with time.

We never get enough of it, that it is always running out on us, that it is some sort of uncatchable bad boy we always have to chase. We have to spend too much of it on things we don’t care about or on things we don’t like, making most of our time a negative experience. We can feel like time is an overactive child who you continuously have to keep an eye on because if you don’t you’ll lose it in the crowd.

Our brain can distract us from time and that it is passing. With Internet, irrelevant things, worries we have about past or future, our brain can -poof- magically make time disappear.

I’m like that too. Time disappears on me all the time. I hate it when that happens.

I have carefully constructed most of my relationships and activities on constants: The shit that I do and the people that I see are important and I intend for it and them to stick around. Yet time moves quickly without telling me, leaving me scrambling to chase it, keep up with it or even just stay aware of it.

I don’t think it has to be this way.

I try to change my perspective on time in a few different ways.

Number one, I try to carefully assess if I think things and people are worth my time. I make choices based on that assessment. And occasionally I just forget about appointments, which frees up time but gotta say that doesn’t really outweigh the embarrassment.

Number two, time is an ally. Just like my coworkers, family, friends , my laptop, my phone and coffee are my allies (not in that order).  Time isn’t here to run away from me, time only runs away from me when I’m not paying attention to it. Time is here for me to use. As long as I keep that in mind, time sits still patiently. “Okay, what would you like to use me for.

Finally, time is a tool. I can use all this time to do things for myself, for others. All time can be used for something good.*

Time is literally the most basic fabric of your life. The foundation of everything that you do, is the seconds that are ticking away from you now. Everything else, from work, positive relationships, hobbies, mental health, development and education: Everything is built on top of the time we have. 

So this Monday, use your time as an ally, and as a tool to help you do shit you want to do.

Build some cool life stuff on top of your time, as the legacy of how you spent your time.

*And remember, using time for naps and tv shows and enjoyably slacking IS good. As long as it primarily feels good. If you feel too guilty, do some work first, THEN chill. 

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

2 comments

  1. Great stuff. Ik denk dat het inderdaad heel belangrijk is om die keuzes te maken over of iets wel of niet je tijd waard is, en hoe je ervoor kunt zorgen dat het je tijd waard blijft.