A recent study, reported in the June 2005 issue of Spirituality and Health magazine, explored people’s beliefs about time and the assumption that we carry that we’ll  have more time next month to get the things done we want to do.  The study pointed to the fact that “…time will not be more abundant in the future,” because there are always things coming up that we don’t expect and that total demands down the road will be similar to what they are today.  The upshot of the study is that we forget this fact, and truly expect that we’ll have more time “later”.  This got me to thinking about how we use time, about the moment-to-moment choices we make, where we put our attention, and which activities we engage.

As I think I mentioned in a previous experiment, a colleague of mine talked about the experience of “time poverty” – a condition in which many of us now find ourselves living in the hectic course of our daily activities.  The feeling of having more to do than we have time in which to do it is an increasingly familiar one, and can create a sense of pressure even in periods of relative ease.  The next thing to do nibbles at the back of our minds like a persistent itch or gnat buzzing around our heads.

And so, my question for this week’s experiment is, how do you use your time?  How do you care for this precious resource and make sure that you use it in ways that leave you with a sense of well-being, accomplishment, or ease?  I now think of wasting time in the same way I think about wasting water.  Being a native Californian, I have a highly-developed sensibility about water conservation, and automatically do many things to keep from unnecessarily using water.  I have sought to develop the same mindful sensibility around using time, but I have to admit that this is a greater challenge for me.

As you read this, please know that I’m not saying we all have to buckle down and “use time constructively.”  Rather, I’m suggesting we explore how we use time in ways that either support or diminish our individual sense of well-being and deep satisfaction.  There is no one answer for everyone.  For example, there are days or hours when hanging out gazing at the sky is a fabulous use of time, and there are other times when getting the laundry done is what constitutes mindfully using the time we have available in a given moment or day.

The key here is to be more aware of time as a resource, as a gift we can give ourselves.  A gift I give myself when my schedule allows is to go into Central Park, find a place that’s comfortable to sit, and just hang out listening to the birds and the wind in the leaves of the trees.  It’s not “productive” time per se, but it is time for genuine and deep nourishment.  There are other times when I get lots done, and that feels good, as well.  There are yet other times when hanging out with family and friends generates the greatest sense of well-being.  Again, the invitation is to notice what fills and supports you, and then to become aware of how you use your time to generate these outcomes in your life.

As you work with this experiment of noticing how you engage time, please bring curiosity along and leave judgment behind.  We each have such a unique and personal relationship with time that no one else can really assess for us whether we have spent our time well.  That knowledge comes from a deep internal sense of our own well-being, ease, satisfaction, or dissatisfaction, and an awareness of how our life is working.  If you have things you really want to do, but put them aside “until you have time”, take this opportunity to explore what would allow you to shift how you use time and notice if you can give these things to yourself now.