I have a friend whose life theme song may as well be called “Flight of the Bumblebee.” The moment she steps into a room, there is frantic energy, distracted body language, and close attention to her phone.
The reason?
It was a feeling that there were never enough hours in the day to get things done. Does this sound familiar to you?
Time is a challenge because it’s one of those things in life that we can’t control. However, we still try to control it. Time management tips, calendar appointments, and apps that function like a virtual assistant are tools that can help you “get organized” and “manage time” more efficiently. The better the tools, the better organized we are, right? Well, not so much.
Rather than try and control time and its inability to cease, let’s just try to work with it. Start by examining your relationship with the perception of time. For example, is time something that provokes anxiety in you, or is it a non-critical factor?
I know of a basketball player who uses his relationship with time to improve his performance. With a few seconds left on the clock, he stands at the three-point line, poised to shoot, and glances at the clock from time to time, patiently waiting for the right time to take the shot and succeeds; he had the stats to prove it.
His superpower is his relationship with time. Milliseconds no longer become fractions of time that trigger angst. Three to five seconds on the clock is plenty of time for him. You see, he perceives time as malleable and not fixed. A construct that he can slow down or speed up as needed.
The same principle applies off-court. Condition yourself to view your relationship with time as a synergistic union. Work with time to create something greater than the sum of your individual parts. Start the process by understanding the properties of time and how it can behave differently in different environments.
Thirty minutes of laser focus on a task, minus the pressure of time as a limiting factor, makes for a higher quality final product and an improved sense of self-preservation and well-being. This is because you are managing your focus instead of focusing on time.
Do more with your time by establishing a different power dynamic. Time does not lord over you, nor do you lord over time. But instead, you work in harmony with each other.
Try not to view time through the lens of your to-do list or calendar but through your perception of time as flexible and bendable.
You may have the time you need to accomplish things, but it doesn’t feel that way because you’re racing through the day. The by-product is a sense of intensity or anxiety. Thwart off this feeling by challenging your perception. Change what you see, and the things you see will naturally change.
Until Next Time!
