Using Time Wisely

At the start of the shelter-in-place, the thought of enforced time at home may have made us feel like we would have all the time in the world. 

But have you noticed how quickly the days and weeks are flying by?

Whether time is zooming by or dragging for you, according to the Stoic philosophers, it will be in our best interest to use this precious resource wisely.  

Time cannot be regained or renewed, so we should be frugal with it. 
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• Live right now - Try not to yearn for or regret the past; it’s unalterable. Don’t waste today focusing on an uncertain future.  Make the most of free time doing all the things you love, rather than wasting time on social media.

 

• Prioritize - focusing on short term gratification may lead us to spend time watching a movie, or surfing the net when we could use that time to meet our long term goals.  While doing these tasks, focus on them and recognize the value in doing them.  To keep yourself accountable, schedule your tasks; you’ll be two or three times more likely to follow through.

 

• Make long term rewards immediate – despite decreasing distractions you may still struggle to start your project.  This is because usually the reward of our goals are a long way off.  So give yourself incremental rewards for example watch a movie or have a treat only after completing two hours work.

 

• Self-awareness reflection – take time to think about who you were in the past (childhood, adolescence, early adulthood). It will enlighten you as to who you are today and want to be tomorrow, and crucially will reveal the changes you’ve experienced.  Focus on the challenges you’ve coped with and overcome and the progress you’ve made.  Reflecting on your life gives you a clear idea of yourself.

 

• Create new memories – invest in making new memories as they create more happiness. Life experiences like exploration and travel (mostly virtual these days) can be done by watching travel shows, studying a new language, and joining a foreign language conversation group.  Immerse yourself in the culture you are studying by learning to cook the cuisine, listening to its music, learning its dance, and watching its movies.  These experiences will create rich memories and will be a good use of time.

 
This BBC Health article addresses how our perception of time is related to our creation of memories.  If we aren’t experiencing memorable occasions like currently during lock-down with limited opportunity for them, then our sense of time is affected and consequently days and weeks tend to meld into each other.   

Life is fleeting.  At this time, when so many lives are being lost every single day, we can honor the time we have by  truly making the most of every moment.

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