Time Not
Enough
by Kenny Toh, October 2005
One of the most common reasons that people
have for not getting things done is "I've got no time". Parents
have no time for their children whom they claim to be the most important
people in their lives. Bosses have no time for their employees whom they
know could either make or break their businesses. Spouses have no time
for one another, and wonder why it is tough to keep the marriage going.
Decision makers have no time to consult the stakeholders, and often lead to
outcomes that fail to deliver the intended benefits. People have no time
for themselves, and instead devote their lives to something or someone else.
What exactly is this thing called 'TIME'
that so many of us are not having enough of? How much time does each of
us have? Is time a limited resource? How do we get more of it?
We often speak of time as an entity that we
possess, something to be spent or managed wisely. What an illusion that
is! To get a handle on time, we need first to recognise that time does
not even exist as a physical reality. Time is not something that we
could see, hear, touch or feel. It is best described as a dimension,
such as length, height and width in physical space. A dimension is but a
concept. Time is a concept that we hold in our minds so as to
make sense of how the world operates, such that we could function within it.
With time, we can traverse from the present to the past or the future. A
concept is not real. It is merely a tool or vehicle for us to experience
reality.
How is it that a concept with no physical
existence become a resource that we have possession of is a complete mystery.
In a way, we have unknowingly surrendered ourselves and become the victim or
servant of our own tool instead of its master. Perhaps it is time that
we wake up to the true nature of time. Perhaps it is time that we
acknowledge time for what it is, and stop claiming ownership or possession of
an entity that is merely a shared concept amongst humanity. Perhaps it is time
that we wake up to the lie we tell ourselves that "I've got no time."
Instead of saying "I've got 24 hours a
day", it is more appropriate to say "There are 24 hours in one day." The
former puts us into a position of ownership, and therefore the responsibility
to manage its use. The latter simply states a fact about a shared
concept that the world had agreed to operate with. Even time zones are
arbitrary. Isn't it bizarre to experience how we could 'lose' or 'gain'
one hour or one day simply by stepping across an imaginary line?
What is time? Time is a merely a measure of
activity. One year is the time it takes for the earth to complete an
orbit around the sun. From year, we break down to smaller units such as
month, week, day, hour, minute, second, mili-second, nano-second, etc,. As a
dimension, time is boundless and infinite. When we stop
treating time as a resource to be managed or utilised, we free ourselves from
the constraint of not having enough time. What we are left with, is
merely the activities for which time is a measure of.
Activities are simply what we do. And
doing, together with being and thinking are the three integrated components of
living. We always have something to do. There are those that we
want to do, have to do, need to do, should do, must do, and nice to do but can
do without. The perception of the 'amount of time we have' is inversely
proportionate to the amount of activities we set out to do. The more
activities there are, the less time we have. School children whose
weekends are packed with tuitions and enrichment classes can attest to this.
"Not enough time" is a phenomenon whereby there are too many activities to be
fit into the same space. The reality that we need to come to terms with,
is that we can only be physically at one place at one time. In other
words, now that you are here reading this article, put yourself wholly into
what you are doing right now right here.
'Time management' is really a misnomer.
What we are really managing, are our activities and our desires to do them.
For those of us who have 'no time', the answer to creating 'more time' is to
reduce the activities that we want to do and need to do. In a nutshell,
it is a matter simplifying our wants and needs.
Why do working parents struggle to find
time for their children? Perhaps their desire to provide for their
children financially is stronger than their desire to be with them.
Their priorities may change when they realise that their children will only be
a sweet baby or a cute toddler once and only once, and that the window of
opportunity for providing them with the parental attention they need is only
open for a little while. Human beings is known to seek to express their
highest values. What is truly important will usually get done.
However, few parents would honestly acknowledge that and tell their children,
"You know what, the truth is I value what money can buy for you more than
spending time with you." Having the self-honesty to examine one's values
is the beginning of managing one's wants and needs. In the absence of
clarity, we often end up filling our days with unimportant activities that
seemly keep us busy but brings little satisfaction and peace of mind.
When we commit to doing the important tasks
first each day, and let the unimportant tasks fill in the space in between
them, we put ourselves onto a path that supports our innate desire to express
our highest values. Undeniably, tasks have different level of urgency.
For our peace of mind, knowing what is important upfront allows us to dedicate
space in our lives for working on them before they get really urgent. If
it is not important, no matter how urgent a task is, it can surely wait.
Knowing what is important enables us to filter out the unimportant and
inconsequential tasks, eliminating them where possible, leaving more space for
doing the things that truly matter. It is through doing the things that
matter that we live a life that truly matters.
Hence, the answer to "How do I get around
this time-not-enough problem?" lies in asking ourselves honestly
periodically,
"What's truly important to me right now?"