Time & Other Concepts
While researching the concept of Time today, I found nothing relevant. What a surprise!
The problem is that we all have a finite time. And yet we are so confused about if we are using it the right way. There isn't a clear map of manual on how to use time. So this is my attempt at making time as a concept cleary for myself.
What is the Finiteness of Time?
Out of a million things you could be doing now, you choose to read this piece of writing.
Likewise, we have made a gazillion different choices in this single minute. The catch is if you consciously don't decide what you want to do the next minute, hour, day, week, month, or year - time will decide for itself. It's still going to pass. Like a constant, indifferent to how others perceive, or make use of it.
So my concern has always been about how badly we spend our time. And the guilt trap we fall into as a result of the poor decisions we make for our time.
What's even surprising is that the value of time cannot be inculcated in school or through a course. It's one such phenomenon that we can only learn by experiencing it. Or better yet - losing it.
It's only when our rational brain realizes the finiteness of our time that we start to think twice before using it in a certain way. I mean you now know the problem. But it doesn't solve itself. Just by knowing that your time here is limited you automatically do not start using it judiciously.
But first -
Is it just the time that we are worried about or something deeper?
There is another dimension to the concept of time, that makes us wary of its finiteness. It's the concept of what we can do with this time. The modern and capitalistic world has given this phenomenon names such as - productivity, efficiency, value creation, doing what you love, passion, job, and more. Just another way of saying make use of your time to create something of value for yourself by serving the larger economic cycle first.
How you choose to spend this time is a more burdensome concern than the fleeting time itself.
That is why for me, my early 20s have been a period of deep contemplation, dissatisfaction, super slow and chaotic schedules, and plenty of bad habits. It's like I am squandering my youth as a tradeoff for a dream of the future. At the same time, doing nothing productive enough to get to that dream. A pretty common dilemma many of us folks might be undergoing.
And there can be several reasons for this:
- Maybe because we think that we have enough time
- We don't have clarity on what our dream is
- If we have clarity, we are not sure about how to get there
- Maybe it is something about your environment or relationships that is stopping you
- Maybe you are scared
While one or all of these reasons can apply to your current scenario, it's also important to realize that time is still passing.
We Worry the Future & The Our Economic Value of Time
As we grow up, the worry about the future also starts. So much so, that we put our presents at stake for it. For ex - does doing this today, add to my big future goal? No matter how much we want to control every waking second of our lives. We know that it's impossible to be so immaculate and impeccable about our decisions to spend it.
Then comes the idea of the economic value of your productive hours. Think of questions like - What is my time worth? How can I increase its worth? Well, your time could be valued at 1500/hour. How to increase its worth is an altogether different ballgame we can play some other day.
But these complicated and hard-to-figure-out dimensions when added to an already hard-to-comprehend concept of times eventually lead to us feeling more worried and aloof from the crowd. Thoughts like this will keep on haunting us every waking hour of the day until we find a solution that is sustainable and simple enough.
The Solution?
The solution to this hard problem requires a deep and well-thought-of mindset shift. Something, I will be covering in detail in my next blog.
But for now, if you think there are some questions about time that you feel haven't been answered in a practical sense, shoot them to me at - makingitsimplefortheworld@gmail.com
Till Next time, Adios!