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Summary: Focusing Your Attention in the Most Useful Ways
Review: While American bookshelves are burdened with time-management books that few feel they have the time to read, Swedish physicist Bodil Jonsson has written about a totally different subject: new ways to think about, appreciate, and use time. In this European bestseller (newly translated into English), she points out that "time is not something you can resolve once and for all." The book contains the benefits of her twenty years of thinking on the subject, and will give you greater awareness of and ability to make good use of your own time. The book is done in a recursive style to help you see the same issues from many perspectives. Her main point is that you need to carve out time to be a thinking, innovative, caring person from the frantic pursuit of "doing" daily tasks. The introduction to the ten essays in the book points out that she began by moving beyond just narrowing time down (which is what time management encourages). At this point, she felt just as frantic as the rest of us -- never having enough time to do what she wanted. Next, she "found some more methodological ways of thinking about . . . time and its usage." As the third step, she learned to "describe . . . thoughts about time and . . . living to the fullest in the midst of ongoing time." Finally, she came to "imagine that [she understood] . . . everthing that's important for [one's] . . . relationship to time." Interestingly, she then reports that some unexpected event would occur to make her realize that she needed to go back and think the whole thing through again. Time Is the Only Thing You Have -- In this essay, she points out the constrast between her grandmother who always had enough time to do what she wanted to do, and the stressed-out modern person who feels she or he does not have enough time. Her point is that "time is the true capital." It can be reallocated for different uses. For important things, "I have plenty of time." Most people will live for 30,000 days. How would you like to spend them? She suggests experiencing "rootlessness in time" so that time becomes "a joy, an eye-opener, an exhortation or a challenge, all depending on your mood." The key is to break your link to measured time, and to focus on time as it is experienced. Clock Time and Experience Time -- This essay points out that we can "stretch out time" by the way we choose our mood. "How do I gain more experienced time?" Setup Time -- This essay points out that the time to prepare has a large effect on how a task goes. By compressing preparation time too much, many people experience "set-up time anxiety." She suggests getting off by yourself to think. This may mean taking a train rather than an airplane for a short trip, because the uninterrupted thinking time is longer on the train. Divided and Undivided Time -- This essay points out that tiny chunks of time cannot be used for many purposes. So restructure your time to have the right amount for what you want to do. For thinking, you need larger blocks than for much individual doing. Thoughts Take Time -- Using the metaphor of "fast food" versus "slow food" and the qualitative differences, she encourages you to take the linear time needed to explore and develop your thoughts. How much can you think in the time it takes to eat french fries? Perhaps not very much. Being in the Here and Now -- This essay points out the evils of the interrupting telephone (now carried as a cellular device) to distract you, and the benefits of e-mail and snail mail for giving you control over the moment and your use of time. She suggests that you follow Bertrand Russell's advice and focus on (a) search for knowledge, (b) longing for love, and (c) empathy for those who are suffering. Focus on establishing a "creative environment." The Pace of Change and the Perception of Time -- She sees the exponential rate of growth in technology as squeezing our ability to relate well to time. It makes time seem to speed up. If we do not become better at taking control of our experience of time, we may be overwhelmed like a lake filled with lily pads or algae. One of the best essays is Rhythm and Nonrhythm, which points out how activities differ in the ideal time, frequency, and duration for their experience. She also emphasizes the need to be in sync with those you are experiencing the activity with. Forward and Backward Thoughts explores how to start with the end in mind, to create a path back to the present. This will help you create the future you desire. Why Are There So Few Poodles? addresses how to expand innovation, and emphasizes the importance of banishing pessimism. After you finish this thoughtful book, I suggest that you review how you spent the last week. What would you have liked to have spent less time on, and what more of? What can you do differently this week to redress that balance? How can you create more space in your life, and a greater sense of time? Many people report that it helps to "schedule" unscheduled time. Give it a try!
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