The gift of time

"The best thing about the future is that it comes one day at a time" ~ Abraham Lincoln

As I started this week and wrote Monday, 19th May, I realised we have just 12 days until June.

My younger son returned to University for his final semester, and I caught him looking out the window at the garden.

Another week, he declared almost another month, and I am at the end of my university career.

Where did that go?

Welcome to the world of work and adulthood I said.

Time is the only resource we all share equally; irrespective of race, creed, or denomination, we start each day with 86,400 seconds.

No matter how wealthy, wise, lucky, or connected we are, you can't manufacture more time.

You can't save it like you can money, and you can't stockpile it like fuel or food.

Once it's gone, it's gone, that's it.

And yet, why do we waste so much time if it is such a precious resource?

I watch my two sons mindlessly lose track of it; time management is one of their weakest links, especially my eldest son.

While he lives by the seat of his pants and wants to embrace every possible minute, please build in some contingency time, I implore.

Understanding why time is so important and why we're so quick to squander it is vital if we want to live a more purposeful and meaningful life.

When we break it down, time is not just finite, it's irreplaceable. Once it's gone, there's no getting it back.

Without sounding too morbid, we don't know how much time we have on this planet, making each passing minute unpredictable and invaluable.

Does that mean we should fill every waking day with the good stuff?

Easier said than done when most of us are working hard to make a living, and our only free time is at weekends.

When you waste money, in principle, you can make more, when you miss an opportunity, as hard it might be there will be others, but when a moment passes, that's it you can't get it back again, that is why memories are precious stored up moments for us to reflect on.

Time is needed to make money, learn new skills, educate, enjoy relationships, grow a business, or rest.

It is always moving forward; it can't go backwards.

While great films like Click make you wish for that magic click button to pause, rewind, or go forward, would we really want to jump into the future to see what happens?

Why do we feel pressured by time?

If we use it well, it becomes the foundation for progress, but if we use it poorly, we misplace time and miss great moments that might otherwise have been there to take advantage of.

I am forever looking at my watch or a clock face.

My husband says my life is governed by time, of course it is.

From work to domestic chores, to making calls, writing, our time is governed by the clock and the time available to us, and how we fill that time is important.

And yet we're hardwired to waste it, and a lot of it, especially if my eldest son is anything to go by.

Why are so many of us seemingly bad at managing it?

In the digital era, we are easily distracted, get dopamine hits from scrolling, streaming, or gaming, all while telling ourselves we'll get to the important stuff later.

If time had a monetary value and we misused or misplaced it, we would soon react differently, and because it has no physical value, we don't feel its loss.

If you misplace or lose £50, you'd be upset.

Because there's no alert, no receipt, no punishment and no visibility, it makes it easy to waste time without feeling guilty.

Time is often squandered because of poor daily organisation and planning.

I fall foul if I don't plan my day ahead.

I have tested this on myself time and time again.

I live by time blocking, which works well for me, and when I don't plan my day, I drift from one task to the next, reacting to what comes along and not completing what I started, using up valuable hours feeling frazzled and tired, having achieved very little.

Surprisingly, I don't recall being taught the importance of time management at school, except during exam preparation. Yet, it's one of the most fundamental life skills any student should learn to navigate their life effectively.

Distraction in the digital age

In the digital age, there are so many distractions.

Our phones, apps, and social media hijack our attention.

Notifications constantly ping remind us to check our phones, and pop-up ads distract and cajole us to consume and buy stuff we don’t need.

You lose an hour scrolling on your phone, watching some worthless YouTube videos or reels, it slips by unaware that the distraction has sucked you in and then boom, heck, where did that forty-five minutes go?

This nonstop barrage of distractions is annoying and destructive.

It fractures our focus, delays work progress, and makes deep thinking harder.

How many hours do we lose to digital clutter each week?

If my weekly screentime is anything to go by, then no wonder we feel panicked, stressed and behind.

What is the cost of wasted time?

It's not just about being unproductive. It's about what we could be doing using our time more efficiently.

For example, developing that business idea, writing that novel we keep meaning to start, spending time with our kids, exercising, and being outside.

When we waste time, we give up those hopes and ideals.

How many people retire and regret not working harder and longer?

They are more likely to say I wish I had done that when I was younger and had more energy; They regret not doing something, not starting sooner, not being present with family, and not taking chances when they had the time.

That regret stems from letting time slip away and not using it to create the life we purposefully had in our head but did not manifest into reality.

Being intentional about what we do, setting boundaries, scheduling time slots, making time for the important stuff, and asking if this is the best use of my time right now is a good way to use our time wisely.

I hate to use the word goals unless I set myself up to do something that requires time and planning, like a project that will take time to complete.

Otherwise, I list them as tasks or things that need to get done, and I do that by brain dumping all the stuff on my mind, from mundane to essential tasks, on my list.

Do we truly value time?

Often, we treat time as a throwaway, a cheap resource; we don't even think about it, do we, because it costs us nothing.

But it's actually the most critical resource we have.

Time Reflects Our Values

How we use our time is a mirror of what we truly value.

If we care about our goals, family, and health but squander them elsewhere, that tells the real story.

If we waste time on things that don't matter, it's often because we haven't really thought through what matters most to us and our priorities.

Time advances, allowing progress and cherishing those one-off special moments.

We all waste time during the day; it's a fact of life, right?

We can't be on the go, using every single minute of every single day. Surely, then, we aim to waste less of it, live more, and make the moments count.

" Lost time is never found again" ~ Anon.