Why time control doesn't work

Time management was asked by Seneca himself

Time management promises that someday we will finally be able to control our lives. However, the more efficiently we use our time, the less time we have left. We continue to roll our heavy stone uphill, like Sisyphus, only now we are doing it a little faster.

In response to the ever-increasing demands of modern life, we are trying to improve our efficiency. With a lifespan of only about 4,000 weeks, anxiety about how we use this time is inevitable.

The question of efficient use of time was still a subject of interest to Roman philosophers. For example, Seneca wrote about this in his treatise On the Transience of Life.

The time allotted to us flies by so quickly that, with the exception of perhaps a few, we pass out of life, not yet having had time to properly prepare for it.

Seneca Roman Stoic philosopher

Seneca suggested abandoning the pursuit of wealth and honor and spending days in philosophical reflection.

In today's society, however, we feel like we have to become as productive as possible, even if it doesn't bring us the promised relief from stress. Time management promises that even in an environment where profit is most valued, you can still live meaningfully and find peace of mind.

It is impossible to be consistently highly efficient

The first time management guru was the American engineer Frederick Taylor, who was hired by the Bethlehem Steel in 1898 to improve production efficiency. Taylor is considered the progenitor of the idea that personal productivity is the solution to the problem of time pressure.

Taylor conducted an experiment and invited several workers to work at maximum speed for additional pay. Their results were four times the normal rate. So Taylor realized that every worker, ideally, should remelt much more.

But if earlier efficiency was primarily a way to convince or force other people to do more work in the same time, now we ourselves impose such a lifestyle on ourselves.

Efficiency promises that you will do what you do now, only better, cheaper and faster. It would seem, what could be better? Only now it is impossible to constantly work in this mode.

Why time management doesn't work

1. We get tired more

Taylor's experiment seemed promising, but in fact, the workers were too tired and after a while they could not cope with their duties at all.

Almost all time management experts advise keeping detailed records of how we use our time, but this only reinforces the feeling that time flies by. And the more we think about long-term goals, the more frustrated every day that we haven't reached them yet. If you still manage to achieve one goal, the satisfaction from this passes surprisingly quickly, because it is time to immediately set a new goal.

Something similar happened when appliances to make life easier for housewives became widespread. It would seem that now, in order to wash, you do not need to bend over the washing board all day, and with a vacuum cleaner you can clean the carpet in just a few minutes. Nevertheless, the hostesses did not have more free time. As the efficiency of various devices has increased, so have the standards of cleanliness accepted in society.

2. We cannot rest

We begin to think that we should also spend our free time productively.

We are not traveling out of love for everything new, but to replenish our piggy bank of impressions or take photos for our Instagram profile. We run to improve our health, not just to enjoy the movement. We work with children, thinking what kind of successful people we will grow out of them.

We all read now to benefit from the book, go to conferences to make new contacts and close deals, and if we stay at home on weekends, it’s only to do renovations.

Walter Kerr theater critic

The very rest in a culture where everyone is obsessed with productivity is regarded as an opportunity to recuperate so that after that, more work.

Accept that you can't be productive all the time. You may be giving up opportunities, disappointing others, and not finishing things. You don't have to make more and more money, achieve bigger and bigger goals, and fulfill your potential in all areas.

3. We cannot create

Excessive efficiency hurts business.

Well-known American software engineering consultant Tom DeMarco argued back in the 1980s that you shouldn't limit your employees to strict time frames. In his opinion, one should not focus on the efficient use of time, but, on the contrary, give more indulgences.

Good ideas don't come up when you feel at gunpoint. The very idea that time is limited is alarming and detrimental to work results.

4. We are not ready for surprises

DeMarco believes that any increase in productivity inevitably requires concessions and compromises. We get rid of unused time, but at the same time also from its advantages.

A good example is a visit to the doctor. The more efficiently the doctor spends his time, the tighter his schedule will be. You will most likely have to sit in line longer because the appointment of the previous patient will take too long.

A similar situation occurs when companies try to cut costs and maximize the efficiency of their employees. The more carefully their time is planned, the worse they will react to sudden tasks. You can improve your responsiveness simply by incorporating free time into your routine.

The closer you are to time management, the further you are from yourself

There is an eternal motive behind our desire to control time - the fear of death. No wonder we are so attracted to the problem of efficient use of time. If we resolved it, we would be able to avoid the feeling that "we are leaving life before we have had time to properly prepare for it."

However, today's enthusiasm for personal productivity has gone much further. It seems to us that if we find suitable methods and learn to control ourselves, we can become happy.

We believe that our productivity depends only on ourselves. This is a very comfortable mindset for those who benefit from the more we work and the more we spend.

When every minute is planned out, there is simply no time left to wonder if we are living the right way.

Personal productivity is presented as a cure for constant employment, when in reality it is, rather, just another form of employment. Therefore, it performs the same psychological function as being busy: to distract us so that we do not ask existential questions.