Time is where everything happens.

Time is the resource that we partially have control over: things happen in life, but we can also make time for things that we want to happen.

I have adopted some form of time management since I was in school – to-do lists, calendar… But only in my 1st year of studying at the Technion; I developed a comprehensive look at time management.

Here are 3 realizations I have learned after 4 years of deliberate time management:

Firstly, time is limited.

For now, we will not discuss the existential or philosophical aspects of this limit.

There are clear limits - set by our definition of a day, and our physical needs.

A day has 24 hours. It is a finite amount. We need to sleep, eat, socialize, work out, commute, take care of others, do many things… I’ve learned that to acknowledge the limit of time is not to accept a loss, but rather, it is a reminder to use this finite amount of time more wisely. This limit filters our wants. We want to do many things, endless things. This limit requires prioritization, a choice of quality over quantity. For each choice that we have made, we should spend the time well, enjoy things when they last.

Whenever I learn about time management, it is mostly because I am struggling with my schedule and need to get more things done in a seemingly too-short time. To have the time to do productive things, like study, work, especially cognitively demanding tasks, we need to know other limits that constrain our finite time further: our brain’s focus span.

Our brain has limits on how long it can intensively focus. Research shows that we have around 3 to 5 hours of intense focus time each day [1][2]. After 5 hours, our focus declines. If we still power through, we usually can only focus for a shorter time in the next day. Sometimes, for example in an exams season, we must power through a few days, in a week or two. But if carried on for a long time, in a matter of months, the lack of quality rest and overwork can lead to burnout.

Our brain needs to recharge itself through rest - to discard chemical buildups during concentration times. Focus time is limited, valuable, and fragile. Therefore, the limit to sustainably work and keep our well-being, is to have around 5 hours of intense focus per day. Not all our work demands intense focus. Repetition, rehearsal of learned content are not as demanding as doing exercises. Writing emails, searching for courses, etc., don’t demand much cognitively.

A quick way to know if your work requires intense focus is to see, if what you are learning is relatively new to you. Do you keep mixing up concepts? Is it your first time doing exercises of this kind? Do you have to correct yourself a lot? If most of the answers are yes, then you are in a phase of learning called “deliberate practice”, which is demanding to your brain, requires a lot of calories – for intense focus. This phase also requires plenty of rest. Yes, rest! The Pomodoro method, comprised of 25-min focus and 5-min break, or 50-min focus and 10-min break, embeds this focus – rest alternation. Breaks are not only important to refresh your mind, improve your concentration afterwards - but also, at the end of the day, help you shut down more easily, and have a deeper, more restful sleep. A good night’s sleep contributes greatly to your well-being, how much you absorb what you learned today, and to your focus ability in the next day.

How you take a break matters: you need your brain to rest and refresh itself. So don’t look at your screens, watch reels, or read news. Try to avoid checking messages. You need to have a diffused mind (in contrast to a focused mind) to focus again later. Going for a walk is a great idea. You can look at the greenery, the plants, which are so abundant on campus. Take deep breaths. I usually go for a 15-min walk after 2-3 hours of study.

For the best shutdown before bed, you should aim for having 5 breaks along the day [3]. Some can be short, like a 5-10min break between lectures, some can be longer, like a lunch break.

Secondly, time flows differently in different cases.

Managing time is not to do the most work in the least time. Time flows differently when we do different things.

In Greek there are two words for time, chronos, the mechanical, second by second time, and kairos, time as a subjective experience. There has been a shift from chronos time management to kairos time management over the past decades. The chronos way gives a feeling that time controls you, and it is blind to your emotions or subjective assessment of time. The kairos way, to cherish the good times, and know that the bad time will pass eventually, is a more humane way to see time management.

I have 2 opposite examples of time, as seen from the kairos way:

One of the best things we can do to feel happy is to spend time with the people we like. Time passes so quickly, yet you still have a vivid memory of how amazing that time was. You cherish that time and see that it is well-spent.

One of the common things we do that makes us unhappy is to doomscroll. It is almost always a solitary activity. Time flies like magic. It has been hours since we searched for something on Youtube and completely got carried away. We feel so guilty afterwards. I will discuss screens usage in another article, but this example can portray an important thing about the kairos way.

Time management is a tool that can improve your subjective experience of life. The kairos way can help keep your bar high, so that you feel more conscious of which activities to fill in your finite time budget.

Thirdly, time management is just a tool,

like almost all things in life, they are inseparable from all things else, but they do not hold utter control. Improving your time management will not solve all your problems but will surely contribute to bettering your life.

Time management also depends on stress management, on how well you eat, you sleep, how frequently you do sports, socialize with your friends, etc. On the other hand, your stress level, how well you sleep, how much time you do sports, socialize are influenced by how well you manage your time. It can be a vicious circle. It can be a virtuous circle.

You are not alone; we are in this challenging university and in this specifically difficult time together. The Technion Counseling Office offers one-to-one talks, customized, in-depth tips for time management, study, emotional well-being, and more for all students. If you feel stressed out, want a listening ear, or just a fresh look at your situation, then you can always schedule an appointment with the office.

I contacted the office several times during my studies and always thought to myself, I should have reached out earlier and more frequently.

I hope you find some points here insightful. In the next article, I will go over practical tools to manage time. Let me know how you like the article, or which issue you’d like to read more. You can write to us at reference.studentjournal@gmail.com.

Sincerely,
Lê Mỹ Nhi (Mini).

Summary

  • Time is limited, and further constrained by our body’s needs.
  • We have around 3-5 hours of intensive focus time per day.
  • Rest and sleep are essential to our focus ability.
  • Taking rests throughout the day helps you wind down more easily in bedtime.
  • Kairos time view: feeling time can be a subjective experience, be more selective about which activities you include in your finite time budget.
  • Time management is a potentially powerful tool. It won’t solve all problems but can help improve many aspects in your life.

Notes

  1. Ericsson, Krampe, and Tesch-Römer, “Role of Deliberate Practice,” 363–406.
  2. Ericsson, Prietula, and Cokely, “Making of an Expert,” 115–121.
  3. Aric A. Prather, The Sleep Prescription: Seven Days to Unlocking Your Best Rest (New York: Penguin Life, 2022), 45.