Gather Ye Rosebuds and Maybe Stop to Smell Some Too

We all have the same 168 hours per week. If we get to the point where our schedules become more important than the purpose and substance behind those schedules, then might I suggest we take a lesson from many world cultures that embrace the concept of us all having plenty of time, because all we ever really have is right now. And now is an abundant resource.

Western societies have a certain way of looking at time. They tend to look at it as a very valuable finite resource. Over the years I’ve heard many sayings about just how precious time is on the one hand and the fact that we all have exactly the same amount of it: from the richest to the poorest people on Earth.

These concepts are meant to help us seize the day so to speak—to take advantage of every moment as if we’ll never get them back. It reminds me of that great scene from Dead Poet’s Society where Robin Williams’ character leads his class of awkward teenagers to the trophy room at the prep academy and he whispers in their ears, “Gather ye rose buds while ye may . . . Seize the day, lads! Seize the day!”

Just reminding myself of that scene sense thrills down my spine. It’s motivating not just because Robin Williams’ character is trying to help some troubled boys feel more okay in their own skin, but also because of the concept he was teaching them. Namely, that time is so precious and so we need to take full advantage of it and use it wisely.

Nearly all time management programs and workshops and books are built around the same basic premise: how do we squeeze more out of our precious minutes and hours so we can be more productive, feel more fulfilled, and basically do more. There is nothing inherently good or bad about this strategy. If people want to pack as much stuff into a storage containers it makes great sense to pick up a trick or technique or two so we can do it better and fit more into the same space.

Over the years I’ve used paper Franklin Covey planners, original Palm Pilots and old PDAs, and now I try to leverage my iPhone and desktop scheduling apps to their fullest. And I have definitely embraced the doctrine of modern time management. Benjamin Franklin’s quote, “Doth thou love life? Then don’t squander time for that’s the stuff life is made of,” has been drilled in my brain from opening my Franklin planner thousands of times over the decades.

But as much as we all are so well immersed in the concept of time management, modern Western views of are not the only way societies can or do look at this very precious resource. Psychologists talk in terms of two different time schemes. The kind I grew up with complete with time management devices and techniques and tight schedules and set timelines is called a mono chronic time. In this way of thinking time is seen as a set chronology. It can be visualized as a timeline and people with this sense take out blocks of time to fit in our days. The other was of looking at time is called poly chronic time. In this sense people draw out time like they are drawing it out of a well. They drink up the amount of time it takes to live out certain experiences. In this way, there isn’t a “right” length for a meeting to take. You’re never really running late because if what is being done in the present moment is important and meaningful then that is exactly where you should be.

I think we can all decipher the strengths and drawbacks of these two senses of time. Countries with a mono chronic time sense like the United States can achieve a lot. They can organize lots of events, meetings, deadlines, flights, and product launches. It’s led in part to the U.S. incredible productivity. I read recently that no country in the world works more average hours than people in the United States.

But there are certainly drawbacks. How often to we have a meaningful conversation with a friend or family member and feel deep connection and relationship growth only to have that be disrupted by a nagging urge to go on to the next thing on the agenda. There will always be something else we need to do, some task to perform, someone to see briefly and according to the predefined length of time.

Poly chronic time alleviates us of that constant burden of being on time and filling our days with useful tasks and interactions and replaces it instead with a pool of time that we can draw out as much time as we need to be fully present in what is happening right now. The trade-off is real though. Typically countries that have a poly chronic persuasion are less wealthy. In fact, as countries industrialize and transition into more developed nations there are clear correlations between that advancement and a loss of poly chronic thinking.

So what am I suggesting? That we should all just abandon our schedules and timelines and iPhone calendars and essentially go with the flow and just enjoy our moments? Certainly not! Even if we could learn to see time in that way, the nagging pull toward productivity and the reward of industrialism would be a constant driver for us.

What I am suggesting is that we enjoy some poly chronic moments in our days, our weeks, or vacations, our work days, and so forth. We can find time, even scheduling them into our days if we need to, to just be. Maybe we have a family get together coming up. How remarkable would it be if we shut off our notifications on our phones and just enjoyed the connections? How impactful could it be for our well-being to carve out ten minutes in our days to cloud gaze or to really enjoy something beautiful or to call up a friend and let the conversation go wherever it goes?

We all have the same 168 hours per week. Those hours are awfully valuable, no question. If we get to the point where our schedules become more important than the purpose and substance behind those schedules, then might I suggest we take a lesson from many world cultures that embrace the concept of us all having plenty of time, because all we ever really have is right now. And now is an abundant resource.