This month, we will change our clocks to move to summer time. Some people use the phrases “spring forward” and “fall back” to remember which way we adjust the hour change.
By “springing forward” in March, we basically lose an hour of time. Time is such a precious resource, losing an hour is not desirable.
Like many people, I have been obsessed with time and maximising it for many years. I have been a multi-tasker always chasing greater productivity.
However, I am slowly realising that this constant pursuit of the perfect balance and productiveness of time is perhaps futile. I have been influenced by the output of Oliver Burkeman and others and I hope you enjoy some of the observations below.
Wishing you a month of having all the time you need 🕰⏲⏱⏰⌚⌛
Sinead
Oliver Burkeman is a journalist and author who lives in Yorkshire in the UK. He is in his late 40s and for much of his life he has been interested in increasing productivity and trying out new methods to do things more efficiently. Oliver’s book, “Four Thousand Weeks, Time Management For Mortals” was published in 2022. Having spent many years chasing productivity increases using different hacks, Oliver shifted his thoughts to question why we feel the need to be ever more productive.
He has interesting observations around how people feel about mortality. If we are always clearing the decks, getting organised and ready for the things we want to do in the future, then there is a sense that we have plenty time. Perhaps its our way of tricking ourselves into thinking we are immortal.
In the final column Oliver produced for The Guardian newspaper, he wrote the following:
“It follows that the attempt to “get on top of everything” is doomed. (Indeed, it’s worse than that – the more tasks you get done, the more you’ll generate.)
The upside is that you needn’t berate yourself for failing to do it all, since doing it all is structurally impossible. The only viable solution is to make a shift: from a life spent trying not to neglect anything, to one spent proactively and consciously choosing what to neglect, in favour of what matters most.”
In the month when we “lose” an hour, we could embrace Oliver’s philosophy that there will always be more to do and therefore liberate ourselves from the feeling of having to get everything done.
In listening to a recent recording created by Oliver Burkeman, I was struck by his comments on saving time or waiting until we have enough time for something. It’s so obvious now but the fact of the matter is I’m not sure I was consciously aware of this until I heard him say it.
We can’t accumulate time !
What we have is right now. Time is not like money or assets, we cannot put it aside for later or a rainy day. Oliver suggests that it might be freeing to think about being fully present in the moment. We just have this moment and then the next moment (we hope) and so on. If we are worrying now about something that might happen in the future, perhaps that is a waste of this moment?
In the spirit of making the most of time, I have tried to be brief this month.
I’ll finish with a comment from my own experience of following a couch to 5km programme about 10 years ago – if you want 2 minutes to seem like a very long amount of time, start running !
“Instead of saying “I don’t have time” try saying “it’s not a priority,” and see how that feels. Often, that’s a perfectly adequate explanation.” Laura Vanderkam
“The world is bursting with wonder, and yet it’s the rare productivity guru who seems to have considered the possibility that the ultimate point of all our frenetic doing might be to experience more of that wonder.”
Oliver Burkeman
“Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute, and it seems like an hour. Sit with a pretty girl for an hour, and it seems like a minute. That’s relativity.” attributed to Albert Einstein although not verified
Sinead Huskisson 