Time is
Too slow for those who wait,
Too swift for those who fear,
Too long for those who grieve,
Too short for those who rejoice;
But for those who love,
Time is eternity.
- Henry Van Dyke
What is time? It has not been properly defined. Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary simply defines it as “that part of existence which is measured in seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years or this process considered as a whole.”
Whatever the definition may be, we run our lives by clocks and calendars. Like us, physicists work with time every day. Nobel laureate Richard P. Feynman, a celebrated physicist, said, “Don’t ask me what time is. It’s just too difficult to think about.” In a way, time is nature’s way of keeping everything from happening all at once.
They say time flies like a bird or flows like a river. Even Isaac Newton considered the flow of time as something uniform. With Albert Einstein’s Theory of Relativity time was seen as a dimension – like height and width – giving a unified picture of events in time and space. Although we have invented sophisticated clocks and watches to measure time, it still remains a riddle because it exists only in our mind.
Time has a chequered history. The Sumerians divided the year into 360 days and designated 12 lunar months of 30 days each. The Egyptians extended the year by five days. Later changes by the Romans, plus refinements by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582, gave us today’s Gregorian calendar. It is supposed to be accurate to a day every 3,323 years.
Early societies measured time with the movements of the sun. The sun rises in the morning. When it is overhead, we call it noon. It is followed by afternoon, evening and night. Until clocks were invented, we had no way of measuring time.
As in any other fields such as printing, Chinese were the first to erect a colossal contraption called the ‘Water Clock.’ It was 30 feet high and was powered by a waterwheel. The clock signalled the hours with gongs, bells and drums.
Lighted lamp
In the 16th century Galileo Galilei saw a lighted lamp swinging in the Cathedral at Pisa. He found that each swing took the same amount of time, regardless of the distance travelled. He was the first scientist to discover the pendulum.
However, the first pendulum clock was built by Christian Huygens, a Dutch scientist. It ushered in the era of precision timekeeping. The Western idea of dividing time into past, present and future came into existence with the birth of Jesus Christ. When we think of time today, we cannot forget the contribution by Sumerian numerology, Egyptian scholarship, and the Bible. With modern technology we can even split a second.
Time passes quickly and we cannot recall a minute we may have wasted. Although ordinary men and women are not worried about the precise time, the world of technology depends heavily on the precise time. Ships, planes and spacecraft are usually guided by accurate time.
Atomic clocks have been put up at timekeeping stations around the world. Scientists have discovered that electrons of atoms oscillate with a rhythm like a pendulum. The atomic clocks show the accurate time. The world’s most precise atomic clock is located in a laboratory in Boulder, Colorado in the United States.
Although scientists have produced precise clocks to measure time, we still do not know what time is. David Allan, a time theorist, says, “Clocks are about very limited devices.” According to him, the past does not exist except in our memory. Even the future is uncertain.
Anyway, scientists are not bothered about such problems. They are happy that they have invented a system of timekeeping. So we are guided by the clock and calendar. We fill every hour with whatever we do.
Body clocks
Even before the invention of clocks and calendars, man was guided by biological time or human time. Our own body clocks tick to an array of weekly cycles. They regulate our body chemicals, immune system, heartbeat, and blood circulation. For such natural activities we do not need any clocks.
According to Charles Ehret, president of the U.S’s General Chronobionics, if you abuse your powerful internal rhythms you are in for trouble. If there is a mismatch between the clock and the body clock, you will experience sleep disorders and depression.
It looks like there is no need to define what time is because we run our lives by numbers on clocks and calendars. Whether we have become slaves to them is another matter. David Landes, a historian of timekeeping at Harvard University, says, “Without the clock there is no modern world. We are still in control of how we use time and how it affects us.”
Some people complain that they do not know what to do with their time. If you feel that way, time is not your problem; you are the problem. You must do something about it. It makes no sense to waste time on flimsy grounds. Your childhood has long since passed and the period of experimentation is over. Therefore, you should know what to do with your time. You have tools at your command. One is the wisdom, the sense of values gained from your years of living. In the words of Benjamin Franklin, “Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time for that is the stuff life is made of.”
Have goals
Fill your time with active living, meaningful action – not with boredom, apathy, or resignation. Do not throw away your valuable time. As a youth you should know how to use time energetically and productively to enhance your feelings of true participation in and enjoyment of the life process. In order to use time effectively, you should have goals.
Many people understand the importance of goals but they are too harsh in their demands upon themselves. Some of them are not sure of their goals. As a result, they become insignificant. If you are a teenager, you will not have any shortage of goals. You may want to find your dream job, master a skill or explore a new subject.
When it comes to time management, the catch phrase is “Organize and execute around priorities.”
It represents the evolution of three generations of time management theory. The first generation carried notes and checklists to give some semblance of recognition and inclusiveness to the many demands on their time and energy. The second generation depended heavily on calendars and appointment books. They reflect an attempt to look ahead and to schedule events in the future.
The third generation reflects the current time management theories. The focus is on prioritization, clarifying values and comparing the relative merits of activities. The emerging fourth generation treats time management as a misnomer. They argue that their challenge is to manage themselves but not time.
As for me, I belong to the first generation of time management. I used to carry a notebook wherever I went. However, I agree with the fourth generation’s view because before managing time, you have to manage yourself!