The Tao of Time, by Diana Hunt and Pam Hait. New York: Henry Holt, 1990.
Reviewed by Stephen Randall, Ph.D.
The Tao of Time states that the problem we have with time is that we don't feel we have enough of it, nor do we feel in control of time. "More and more, time has come to exercise a tyrannical influence over our lives. There is never enough of it, no matter how carefully or cleverly we organize and plan." (from the book's jacket)
And time management techniques at best provide short-term relief from our 'time poverty' and struggles with time, and for many of us such techniques have actually intensified the problems. "In an effort to capture and control time, we buy into a prepackaged approach. We begin enthusiastically, eager to launch offensives against bad habits. . . . We organize and set priorities as the system dictates and refer frequently to a bag of timely tricks to help us get a handle on this capricious entity, but more often than not we find that the conventional methods of managing our time simply do not work." (pp. 9-10) "At the end of the day, you've accomplished some of what you'd intended to do--but you feel harassed that you didn't do it all. Your frustration level rises. You can't put your finger on why you feel dissatisfied." (p. 30)
"We still aren't comfortable with time. . . . These systems don't deliver the promised results. Instead of feeling in control of time, we feel confined by our routine. We search for freedom, but we find frustration. And we don't discover more time." (p. 31) "We think we're buying time, but we're getting structure." (p. 29)
The authors argue that traditional time management really cannot resolve these problems. Control and relief will never result from even the most clever ways of organizing, prioritizing, and scheduling external clock time. "We never seem to find the perfect scheduling solution . . . ." (p. 8) "We've mastered every conceivable methodology and it isn't enough. No matter how accomplished and efficient we become, we can't keep up with time today." (p. 33) "Our contemporary time machines have failed. The organizer notebook may be this decade's status symbol, but time still slips away." (p. 32)
"When the emphasis [in time mangement] is on immediate problem solving [I would say the emphasis in traditional time management is on quickly completing tasks and not problem solving] rather than on personal growth, being is never introduced. While with these methods you may alleviate some time pressures temporarily, because your state of being is not affected, you never generate any deep or lasting changes in how you view and interact with time. . . . Ultimately you return to your old ways, and with new frustration." (p. 149)
Although Hait and Hunt say that time management will not solve our time problems, they do believe that our felt temporal limitations can be successfully dealt with: "It [time] has enabled us to create the walls and rooms of our existence. In our rush to build, however, we've forgotten that while we have the ability to construct these walls, we also have the power to tear them down." (p. 13) Yet only by developing control of "inner time," our experience of time, is it possible to find peace and fulfillment in the midst of our activities. "We are beginning to understand that it is only through changing our attitudes that we may effect a lasting change in how we manage our time. . . . We are not victims of time." (p. 12) "In order to survive our society, we will be obliged to turn inward--decelerating, seeking time as it exists within each of us . . . . " (p. 34)
Although the authors have not defined exactly what "changing our attitudes" means, and though I suspect that they are referring only to our attitudes about time, I agree with their conclusion that we need to change in order to significantly change our experience of time. I think that our feelings of time flowing are entirely the product of past repressed feelings and emotions. If this is true, then the only way to change our experience of time is to work through these repressed feelings when they arise. Time flow cannot be altered simply by manipulating externals.
The Tao of Time portrays our modern problems with time as the result of excessively attending to outside influences--others' needs, clocks and other man-made timekeeping devices, and the accelerating influences of our Information Age. "What is needed is an entirely new approach to time, an inside-out philosophy that focuses on the individual and his or her needs rather than on managing and organizing the many needs of others." (p. 10) "Only through conscious effort to counter the accelerating influences of our Information Age can we readjust the way we perceive and live with time." (p. 55)
I think that the idea that time problems result from some imbalance between internal and external pressures is a weak point of the book. In my view, which agrees with Stephan Rechtschaffen's view presented in Timeshifting, these problems of time poverty, pressure, and anxiety are the product of avoiding negative feelings that arose in our experience.
According to the authors, if we can stay internally focused and balanced, we would be aware of our own rhythms and needs and could fend off external influences that somehow cause time pressures. "Whenever we act more from our personal point of balance and respond less to outside cues, we gradually and naturally release the pressure of the clock." (p. 84)
I like the idea of balance as a primary planning and decision-making tool. "When you put these two together--balance and sensitivity to your rhythms--you create your own planning tool." (p. 86) However, the idea that pressures come only from outside influences is hard to believe: most of us set deadlines of our own and sometimes feel pressured as a result. Furthermore, suggesting that we defend our balance against outside influences goes too far. How are we to contact beneficial or insightful influences if we automatically ward them off? And finally, attributing our temporal problems to external influences and then attempting to control those influences may help somewhat, especially for those individuals who readily take on jobs proposed by others. But there are few people-especially those who have a family or work for a supervisor-who can afford to ignore requests and demands of others.
Repeatedly the authors state that clocks themselves somehow cause pressure in our experience ("the pressure of mechanical time" (p. 72)). The process by which this might occur is not explained. Apparently because of this attributed source of pressure, they recommend ignoring the clock and not scheduling things unless absolutely necessary. "Our way of time allows us to ignore temporal conventions." (p. 42) "By visualizing your most important activities happening without the clock, you maintain control." (p. 69) Disbelief in any reality of the future is also grounds for avoiding planning and scheduling: "The concept of the future is meaningless. Therefore planning for the future is a futile exercise." (p. 154)
However, it is a practical necessity for many of us to plan our activities; trying to get things done and coordinate activities with others while somehow avoiding thinking about future times seems impossible. And I don't see a necessary connection between simply checking to see what time it is and pressure. Sometimes we love looking at the clock because we have something to look forward to. It's not whether we look at the clock, but how we watch the clock that can cause pressure.
The old adage "a watched pot never boils" provides a clue: when we act as a separate, independent observer, time flows beyond our control. On the other hand, as Hunt and Hait point out, when we're thoroughly engrossed in something, there's no sense of time passing, let alone any time pressure. "When we . . . are totally absorbed by the activity at hand, we become our most positive and productive selves. . . . Engrossed . . . we slip effortlessly into a no-boundary . . . timeless dimension where energy abounds . . . ." (p. 66) Our degree of involvement determines the degree to which time is felt to flow, quite independently of the rate at which actual physical events occur.
They offer a deceleration program to help you "alter your way of time by choosing to change your attitude about time." (p. 129) Though I have not thoroughly experimented with their system, I believe that a person who does their exercises in a disciplined way can realize a significantly different experience of time. However, the visualization approach for changing our attitudes is somewhat indirect: because the program never directly examines our actual sense of time flow as is done with the Time-Space-Knowledge exercises (see, e.g., Tarthang Tulku's book Time, Space, and Knowledge: A New Vision of Reality. Berkeley, CA: Dharma Publishing, 1977), attitude visualization can easily leave part of time's dynamism in a somewhat uncontrollable position external to and apart from us. This seems to be acknowledged by the following statement: "Sometimes even the most dedicated attitude isn't enough to cope with daily time challenges." (p. 167)
This uncontrollable external view of time is reflected in one of the book's concluding statements about our options for dealing with time: "It's as if we're poised at a crossroads as we approach the new century. One road, dedicated to acceleration, is the familiar fast track. The other, committed to separating ourselves from that track, is aimed at getting us off the merry-go-round." (p. 236) "We can stay on the merry-go-round as it continues to accelerate, or we can step off and set our own pace." (p. 244)
I see a third option that doesn't create or reinforce an internal/external dichotomy: move toward the still point at the center of the merry-go-round. Then we can stay involved in the activities of our lives without being disturbed by them.
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