Time is a funny thing. Sometimes it moves so slowly: When the bus is running late, when you’re in the last hour of a long haul flight, when you’re waiting for your toaster to pop. Sometimes it moves too fast: When you’re caught up in a passionate debate, when you’re working to a deadline, when your country is about to inaugurate a monster…but I digress. One way or another, time always seems to work adversely to how we want it to.
Of course, the truth is time is actually the one constant we can depend on, and it’s only our attention — or lack thereof — that warps it. So how can we control time? How can we harness it, make it move at our pace, and prevent it from escaping us?
I was recently accepted to London Business School and after the initial wave of excitement, I was struck by a realization: The time between now and when I start school is precious and finite. Life as I know it has an expiration date, and with that comes a rare opportunity to use this time completely as I please. What a gift: To have the chance to travel, explore, and experience, with the security of a next step to look forward to. Time has been thrown into sharp focus; every minute feels precious, and I am determined not to waste it.
But here’s my problem: Time is so easy to waste. I sometimes find myself slipping into a routine and letting time pass without footnote or punctuation. I go to work, come home, exercise, go out to dinner or watch TV, and fall asleep, for days on end on loop. When I’m not doing anything, I let small tasks expand to fill the time at hand. It might sound boring but it’s actually pretty fun, and that’s the problem. Even though I enjoy life in those periods, when I look back months later, I wonder where the time went. Letting the routine take over is easy, but reflecting and not being able to distinguish weeks from each other never feels good. Especially now — when August rolls around, I don’t want to be left wondering what I did with those precious, transient months of my life.
So the challenge, then, is to treat time as a discrete entity rather than a continuous one. Instead of letting days and weeks flow into each other, to punctuate them with notable events and experiences, and make each day memorable. Then, upon reflection, I will see not a blur of normality, but a collection of exceptional memories. Here’s my strategy:
Work hard
I still have two and a half months of normal life ahead of me, but each day feels more important than before because now it’s part of a finite set. I am determined to work harder than ever at my job, create things I’m proud of, and build relationships that will last. Outside of work, I want to do as much as I can for my nonprofit, YWTF. I’m so proud of what we’ve built so far, and I can’t wait to see the difference they’ll make in future. I want to value what remains of my everyday life, and be able to look back on it in high definition.
Plan
I’m going to fill my time with things I’ve always wanted to do. While I still live in San Francisco, I want to see, do, and eat, all the things the city is famous for, and the locals cherish. Having spent almost four years here, I want to leave feeling like I really knew my home (bucket list ideas? Send them my way!). I want to fill my time off with adventures. I am planning to visit Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, Colorado, New York, Iceland and France before heading to London to start at LBS. The trips will range from 3 to 30 days in length, and I’ll wear a few different hats: Tourist, employee, volunteer.
Document
Keeping record of my time will be the best way to ensure I don’t forget anything. I plan to write a little every day in my version of a bullet journal, and work on longer form pieces occasionally for the things that I think deserve a closer look. I will also use these months to hone my photographic skills and hopefully create a beautiful visual record of my experiences.
Nobody can change time, but I think we can make it work for us by approaching it with consciousness. In this first half of 2017, I’ll test that theory.
