Usually October is the month I write about time as the clocks change, but last month was dedicated to Autumn cleaning. So November is getting a turn on the time topic.
I attended a course in September where we were asked to choose 3 pictures from an array of pictures. Almost everyone at my table chose the picture of the clock as it represented constant rushing and racing and not having enough time.
I also chose the clock but I shared that I am really trying to change my relationship with time (it’s a big challenge!). I try to catch myself when I say I’m busy. My re-frame is around being grateful for all the time I have and being grateful for all the opportunities I have to use my time in meaningful ways.
I have often mentioned the writer, Oliver Burkeman, in this newsletter. Oliver writes his own newsletter called “The Imperfectionist” and has written a number of books. His areas of interest include our relationship with time and what can be an obsession with productivity.
In his newsletter of 3rd October 2024, Oliver mentions the Unproductivity Challenge, which he describes as learning to stop after we have dedicated a fixed amount of time to something. He draws upon research into the output of writers who confined themselves to writing for just 3 or 4 hours per day.
Oliver argues that our need to keep going to get something finished can reflect an insecurity in ourselves that we are somehow lacking if we haven’t reached the (unrealistic) pinnacle of having meet all our targets, done everything we said we’d do and marked everything off our to-do lists.
Most of us know reaching this pinnacle is highly unlikely but yet we keep trying; exhausting ourselves in the process.
Oliver suggests we try an alternative approach. We stop at a certain time or after a certain amount of work.
He says we’ll feel uncomfortable about it initially but gradually we’ll feel better and may in fact become more productive as a result of this change.
He poses the “Unproductivity Challenge” as follows: “find an hour or two next week when you expect to have time to yourself. Mark it in your calendar. When that moment comes, the rule is simple: you can’t do anything productive.”
It’s not just time off from work, it also means no household chores, doing grocery shopping etc. Oliver says he indulges his hobbies of reading for pleasure, hiking or playing the piano. Oliver recommends this as a way to leave behind the insecure feelings that accompany not getting everything done and instead embrace this right to enjoy your existence, whatever your productivity levels.
Page Grossman, who I also like to quote from wrote about the same topic in her September newsletter.
Many of us tend to have a start time for our work but not a finish time as our finish time often relates to how much we think we need to get completed and we keep going trying to squeeze in one more task.
Page recommends setting a time to stop work.
That time shouldn’t be when she has finished something or when she has to stop because she’s rushing out to complete another obligation. It should be the time that she set in the morning that she is allowing herself to stop at because she has done enough work for that day. (Page is self employed so has more flexibility than some of us, however, I think the point is still relevant – we can all be guilty of just doing one more thing before logging off in the evenings.)
I’m going to add some wisdom from Padraig O Morain here because I think if we want to follow the approach set out by Oliver and Page then we should try to stay focused on work when we are working and not get too easily distracted.
Padraig shares this analogy “You are waiting for a train to a certain place. Trains from and to all destinations come and go. Would it make sense to get onto the first random train that comes along? Of course not. Following every mental distraction is like getting onto these random trains. It’s worth practising staying on the platform by giving attention to the present moment, even if it isn’t exciting.”
| “The fulllness of being alive isn’t something that’s coming later,once all the things are done. It’s something you can experience right here while you’re doing them.” Oliver Burkeman “I’d like to set a time boundary…And, instead of rushing through one more task, I want to pause and reflect on what I accomplished during the day.” Page Grossman “When tempted to follow distractions (‘I’ll just check Instagram, no I’ll check the news, no I’ll check my email’) tell yourself, at least sometimes, to stay put.“ Padraig O’Morain |
Sinead Huskisson 