Tyranny of the Urgent

Politics of Time Management: When was the last time you took time off from your work or studies without guilt or unease? If you struggle to answer this, do not worry, as you are not alone. The conveyor belt of capitalist culture has indoctrinated all of us into thinking that “time is money”, and if you are not being productive, then you are not worthy, irrespective of the global pandemic status. Shyla, 25, told me, “I used to feel so guilty as no matter what I did, I was never able to be on top of things. It was like being stuck on a hamster wheel.” Her words reminded me, yet again, that there is no bigger myth than the seductive idea of “seize the day”. Books, podcasts are being churned out at a fantastic industrial speed on this, but we are more crunched for time than ever before. As a society, we are stuck in rolling the Sisyphean time-management rock up the hill, only for it to roll down again. Living in an illusion that a day will come when we will master it all and live happily ever after. This idea is being sold to us as an ultimate hack to living a worthy life, but at what cost? Mental-health struggles, addictions and suicides are rocketing in the youth as they see themselves as not fit enough to be part of the rat race.

Cosmic insignificance: When I asked Shyla what had helped her to step out of the hamster wheel, she introduced me to the idea of “cosmic insignificance” that she had read about in Oliver Burkeman’s book Four Thousand Weeks (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2021). She said, “Don’t you think we take ourselves and our stay on this earth too seriously? We are like a blip in the history of humankind. Even if we do something truly remarkable, two generations down will not remember us. Isn’t the cosmic insignificance of our life enough for us not to give a damn? The indifference of the universe challenges our ideas on inefficiency, productivity and white-knuckling it out.” It was a truly liberating perspective as somewhere in knowing our insignificance, we can find so much peace in our imperfection and impermanence. It is like the epiphany and awe we experience when we are with nature, standing amid majestic mountains or the expanse of the sea, and we feel like an insignificant particle in the universe and yet so deeply connected.

Do less to do more: In our world of attention economy, time is not something that is completely under our control. We are no match for multi-billion-dollar tech companies that are constantly devising ways for us to stay addicted to our gadgets. Every time we put our phones down, they lose money. How many of us have had that experience when we thought we would get into Facebook or Instagram for a quick peep and only resurfaced half an hour later from the rabbit hole? The scroll culture, constant cognitive switching is fracturing our ability to focus and engage with life. I have written extensively about this earlier in this column, but my subversive mantra is — do less to do more. Use social media minimally, remove the apps from your phone, even better — lock your phone or laptop away. And you will be amazed at the time you will have to engage with your world meaningfully.

The Arctic ice is melting, marine ecosystems are getting acidic, and we have lost millions in this pandemic, and the end is nowhere close. If this is not a wake-up call for us, I have no idea what else could be. Some of you might be at the beginning of your life span on this earth, and some of you, like me, might be way past the midpoint. So why speed race the rest of our time and wonder at the end where did it all go? Since my conversation with Shyla, I have discussed the tyranny of the urgent with many young people and how we can navigate ourselves out of this predicament. Some of the themes that emerged:

Step out of the hamster-wheel culture: The problematic formula of Time Management = Productivity = Worthiness locks us into a revolving door that brings us nothing but a sense of failure, guilt and despair at missing the “starting gun.” Not to talk about the damage it has caused our planet, human inequity and social injustice.

One thing at a time: I can tell you from my experience that this one is really difficult as how tough is it to resist the allure of the frenetic multi-apps/tabs/tasking culture. But this mindful living has made a world of difference to my peace of mind.

What matters is an engaged life: To make sure we take out time every day for something that stretches and expands us physically, intellectually, spiritually. It could be figuring out some innovative research, writing a film script, or designing your dream start-up. Anything that aligns with your values and hopes for a deep meaningful life.

Wander and stop running: I grew up in the mountains where rambling and wandering was the way of life. So I struggle with the fast pace of urban life and need lots of aimless time when I just do nothing. It’s in these white spaces that we find our epiphanies, the “aha” moments and where sparks of life happen. And that is what I am taking to the new year — cosmic insignificance, do less to do more and aimless wandering.

Shelja Sen is a narrative therapist, writer, co-founder, Children First. In this column, she curates the know-how of the children and the youth she works with. She can be reached at shelja.sen@childrenfirstindia.com