Time-Saving

Often it seems as though you don’t have the right amount of time during the day; you have too much time or not enough. You kill time waiting in a supermarket checkout line or waiting for a bus or waiting for a doctor’s appointment or watching some terrible TV show. Or time just flies while you’re busy at work or running errands or cooking dinner or being with friends. And even though time itself is rigid and doesn’t change, it feels as though it’s flexible, where time becomes longer or shorter depending on the situation.

Time is a valuable commodity. We want to use our time well and be efficient. And while there are many “time-saving” activities people do, often that “saved” time just means it’s replaced with more work. But wouldn’t it be fantastic if we could save actual time? If only we could save time the way we can save money; if time was tangible and physical and we could squirrel away those unwanted minutes when we’re bored and save them for a day when we’re busy and would love to have some extra time. That would be wonderful. [Pause.] But sadly this is not the case. Each day has the same number of hours, whether wanted or unwanted—but I bet most people want more.