Jun 19

Career Corner: Take a Tao Approach to Time Management

Are you always jamming your schedule? Do you allow the clock to manage you? Or, do you trust your intuition to guide your time?

Most of us think of time in the linear way that has dominated Western thought since Isaac Newton imagined time to be a forward movement of orderly, unchanging hours, months and years. We manage time by inserting appropriate tasks into the right slots.

Another way of viewing time is to perceive it in a holistic fashion, and experience it through intuitive feelings. This requires that we transcend the parts to see the whole.

Contemporary scientists such as David Deutsch, a quantum physicist, emphasizes that the structure of the universe is made in the image of its underlying field. The physical character of atoms, proteins and cells including people are controlled by immaterial energies that collectively form that field. This unique spectrum represents an invisible moving force that is in harmonic resonance with our physical bodies.

Time is infinite, inseparable from and interrelated with the universe. Because time is limitless and highly personal, we can go within to establish a comfortable range of rhythms and balance.

An ancient Chinese Taoist philosophy, described in The Tao of Time: A Revolutionary Philosophy and Guide for Personal Time Management, offers ideas that are consistent with current scientific views.

Taoism emphasizes the now. Living in the present helps eliminate clock-induced stress because we practice mindfulness, focus on present tasks.

Four interrelated Taoist principles form the underpinnings of this way of looking at time:

Nonresistance teaches us to let go of our prepackaged approach to time management and allow events to unfold.
Individual power enables us to assert our right to control our time.

Trusting our intuition enables us to remove extraneous details that cloud our vision. We enhance clarity, confidence and efficiency. A challenging situation now seems effortless.

Balance suggests attending to our intuition help us live in the moment and balance activities.
Harmony. This concept suggests synchronizing our environments. Centered, we don’t feel guilty about past actions or fear future choices.

As we become comfortable with the foregoing concepts and rediscover our natural rhythms, clocks and schedules can be used as tools rather than absolutes.

Can you find a balance between the holistic and linear ways of perceiving time? How can you integrate these concepts into your management of time?

Additional ways of managing time are described in Questers Dare to Change Your Job and Life: www.questerdaretochange.com

Editor’s note: this has been a guest blog post by Dr. Carole Kanchier she is a career and personal growth expert, is author of the award-winning, groundbreaking book, Questers Dare to Change Your Job and Life (2014). Visit her website: www.questersdaretochange.com or send her an email: [email protected]