Rule number one, no running for the subway

Linklater, is his documentary about the winningest baseball coach in college history, makes a strong thesis statement in the opening scene of the film:

Pressure is a choice.

Not only for pitchers walking out to the mound, but for all of us.

Truth is, nobody or nothing can make us nervous. Only we can. Especially when it comes to matters of time. Contrary to popular conditioning, we are not crucified by the clock, and we are not trapped in the world of time.

Nobody can’t actually manage time anyway. Time just is.

What we manage is ourselves, our focus and our choices.

Think about the last time you wasted energy screaming about deadlines, wailing about running late, bemoaning your time constraints and beating yourself up over a lack of productivity.

To what degree did your little tirade on efficiency increase your productivity? Absolutely none. Complaining about a lack of time doesn’t create more of it, it only reinforces your victim position in relation to it.

Time is something that is valuable depending on our attitude towards it, and discretionary use of it.

One of my favorite practices to express this philosophy is, no running for the subway.

Think about it. Why risk tripping down the stairs, pulling a hammy, dropping my phone into the track and crashing into some frazzled commuter, just to arrive at my destination six minutes earlier?

That effort would take up a disproportionate amount of energy and anxiety compared to the result.

Besides, another train will come along. It will probably less crowded, too. May as well put on some music, crack open a book and enjoy myself. Most of life is waiting anyway. There’s nowhere to get. This is it. This is as good as it gets.

Next time you feel the urge to put unnecessary time pressure on yourself, try this. Announce to yourself that time is your friend and partner, that there are no emergencies, and that you have plenty of time to do all the things you want.

Remember, time does not need to be feared or fetishized. Merely taken responsibility for.

When was the last time you complained about how little time you had?