Are We Really Running Out of Time?

Why do we always feel like I’m out of time? There’s even a science behind us feeling that we have no time. This is probably why I always tackle my tasks quickly, desperately trying to tick the next one on my list. This way, I can move on to the next and then the next. It makes me now think if we are really running out of time. Or, do we just need a change of perspective?

Running Out of Time or Running from Time?

I’m sure that there are others like me who feel the same. Since I like making lists, here are some examples:

• I would walk quickly so I can get to places right away.
• I’d make it a habit to look back at my day and think about what I’ve accomplished so I’d feel better.
• I would get to bed listing the things I’ll have to finish the next day as a mental note.

Heck, I’d look back at my life and list what I’ve accomplished so far! And this was the only way I could consider my day, week, month, year (to the Friends theme song tune), or lifetime productive.

Even on vacations, the usage of time has become much more important to me than the experience. I would travel to places, thinking that the destination is the most important part of the trip. I would schedule the activities ahead of time. Then, it would frustrate me when something doesn’t work out the way I expected. This is probably why I don’t consider myself spontaneous and feel so tense all the time. I feel like I’m always running out of time.

Two Types of Time

It is only when I read the Power of Now that I’ve realized that I’m not running out of time. Rather, I’ve been looking at time wrong. Looking at it now, I’ve spent the last 31 years of my life putting the past and the future in the center of everything. “Later” has become my solution and now has become a stepping stone to later. That is, I’m wasting my clock time for being too caught up in my psychological time. Let me explain. Eckhart Tolle, in his book, explains that there is psychological time and clock time.

Clock time is the actual number in your watch, and it’s important in managing your day-to-day activities. However, psychological time is the way we spend our clock time thinking about the past and the future. It’s true that we can learn from our past experiences or we can move ahead with our future goals. However, if we let our past control how we feel now or our preoccupations with the future affect what we do now, then that’s when it can get destructive.

Making the Most Out of (not Running from) Now

The book encourages us to harness the Power of Now. It teaches us to enjoy every moment of our life because it just won’t ever happen again. That you shouldn’t do what you’re doing now just to move on to the next task because you’re missing out on enjoying that very task. That thinking ripples through every single step you take in your lifetime. That it’s okay to think about the past if it helps now but not to dwell on it too much that it affects your mood or your very perspective of yourself. And that it is alright to think ahead but not hope that the future is better than what’s here now. The past and the future are both concepts. They are not reality. What’s real is now and it should be the only thing that matters.

Okay. What I said may not make sense much. Try this instead. Think about a time when you thought that earning more would be enough to make you feel happy. If you’ve achieved that today, do you think it’s now enough? Are you actually happy now? Maybe you are. Good for you! But if you are not, that just proves that your thoughts of a better future may not be as real as you thought. I must also add that our physical body doesn’t allow us to live forever. So, what if the future never comes?

Just Being

So, how do we change our design of always thinking about the future? We can start by feeling, not thinking about every moment. Are you washing the dishes? Instead of cursing or thinking when you’re going to finish, enjoy the feel of the water or the soap against your hands. Are you stuck in a long line to get to the train? Instead of thinking about what to do right after you get home, observe the people around you or listen in to the different sounds that you can hear. Does any of this help you finish the task faster? Not at all. But it helps you change the way you feel about the task and be in the now, and that’s where you need to be.

I know, deep inside, you agree with me. They say that time runs fast when you’re happy and slow when you’re bored or stressed. It’s because we have the power to control how we think about time. As Einstein would say, time is relative. We can’t change clock time, but we control our frame of reference by not dwelling on psychological time. The key is to enjoy every moment.

Of course, I’m not discounting the need to plan for the future. Being a financial advisor, it is my duty to help my clients plan for the future. However, planning for the future does not equate to disregarding now in order to get to the future quicker. Because clock time is fixed, it’s not even possible to get to the future quicker. Why would you want to lessen the clock time you have?

How Not to Run Out of Time

One of the ways that we can practice being in the now is through mindfulness and meditation. I’ll write a different piece on this, but for now, I’d say that it’s the easiest way to channel all your energy to the very moment. It may seem like hokum, but both mindfulness and meditation are scientifically proven to help you achieve inner peace. And feeling that peace now is so much better than dreaming about getting it in the future.

Dalai Lama said that we are human beings, not human doings. I’d add to this by saying that, while we were given higher-level thinking than other animals, we also do not exist only to think. We are a lot of different things, and if we become present enough to notice the things we do, think, and feel, then we become beings.

Needless to say, we are not running out of time. We are, however, running from now, and we should take the time to stop and smell the flowers.