The Philosophy of Time Management | Brad Aeon | TEDxConcordia
Summary
TLDRThis script explores the philosophical roots of time management, questioning the modern approach that emphasizes productivity over meaningful living. It challenges the notion of 'time is money,' suggesting that valuing time this way cheapens its true worth. The speaker encourages embracing philosophy to ask deeper questions about how we spend our time, advocating for a mindful approach to living that acknowledges our mortality and the sacrifices we must make to lead meaningful lives.
Takeaways
- 📝 The speaker began with a personal story of realizing mortality at a young age, which sparked a lifelong interest in the value of time.
- 🤔 The script emphasizes the importance of asking philosophical questions about time, such as why we work and what gives our lives meaning.
- 📚 It critiques modern time management practices for being technique-focused rather than rooted in philosophical inquiry about living meaningfully.
- ⏰ The concept of time as money is challenged, with the argument that it devalues our time and leads to a more stressful and less fulfilling life.
- 💰 The script suggests that viewing time as money can lead to greed and a lack of consideration for others or the environment.
- 💡 Roman philosopher Seneca's view is cited, suggesting that valuing time as money is undervaluing it, especially when considering our mortality.
- 🤷♂️ The speaker reflects on the idea that we may say we 'don't have time' as a way to avoid making choices and facing their consequences.
- 👵 The script contrasts the time constraints of our great-grandparents with our modern perception of time scarcity, despite having more freedom and flexibility.
- 🤝 It points out that our time management choices have societal implications, affecting everything from voting to social connections.
- 🧐 The importance of self-reflection on time allocation is highlighted, encouraging us to question whether we are making excuses or sacrifices.
- 💬 The speaker concludes by advocating for a philosophical approach to time management, which involves continuous questioning and meaningful choices.
Q & A
What is the main fear the speaker had when they were six years old?
-The main fear the speaker had when they were six years old was the fear of getting bored.
What realization did the speaker have after watching a documentary on sea turtles?
-The speaker realized that sea turtles can live up to 150 years, which led them to the realization of their own mortality and the mortality of everyone around them.
Why did the speaker's mother say that the concept of death is something that cannot be changed?
-The speaker's mother said that death is a natural part of life that is inevitable for everyone, and there is nothing one can do to change that fact.
What is the speaker's view on the modern time management movement?
-The speaker views the modern time management movement as philosophically empty, focusing on productivity and efficiency rather than on the philosophical roots of making life meaningful.
What does the speaker suggest is the problem with equating time with money?
-The speaker suggests that equating time with money leads to impatience, unhappiness, greed, and a decreased willingness to help others or consider the environment.
According to the speaker, what is the true value of time according to Roman philosopher Seneca?
-According to Seneca, as mentioned by the speaker, if we think of time as money, we are actually valuing our time very cheaply.
What does the speaker believe is the fundamental question in philosophy that helps with time management?
-The speaker believes that the fundamental question in philosophy that helps with time management is 'Why shouldn't I kill myself right now?' as it prompts reflection on what one truly values in life.
What is the speaker's opinion on the statement 'you can't manage time'?
-The speaker disagrees with the statement 'you can't manage time,' arguing that time can indeed be managed, but it requires making choices and living with the consequences of those choices.
Why does the speaker argue that saying 'I don't have time' is a lie?
-The speaker argues that saying 'I don't have time' is a lie because it is often an excuse to avoid making choices and taking responsibility for how one uses their time.
What does the speaker suggest is the consequence of not managing time meaningfully?
-The speaker suggests that the consequence of not managing time meaningfully is a lack of fulfillment and potentially contributing to societal issues such as isolation and a lack of civic engagement.
What advice does the speaker give for managing time in a meaningful way?
-The speaker advises embracing philosophy and continuously asking meaningful questions about how one uses their time, rather than focusing on tips, tricks, and shortcuts.
Outlines
🦖 The Philosophy of Time and Death
This paragraph explores the speaker's childhood fear of boredom and the existential realization of mortality after learning about the lifespan of sea turtles. It delves into the philosophical roots of time management, questioning the modern approach that focuses on productivity rather than the meaningful use of time. The speaker criticizes the 'time is money' mindset, illustrating its negative effects on happiness and social behavior, and emphasizes the need to reconnect with the philosophical inquiry into what makes life meaningful.
💡 Rethinking Time Management: Beyond Productivity
The speaker challenges the conventional wisdom that time cannot be managed due to the overwhelming demands of life. Using a personal anecdote about a professor who suffered personal losses due to her dedication to work, the paragraph highlights the importance of managing time to live a fulfilling life. It discusses the paradox of having more time yet complaining about its scarcity, and how the fear of making wrong choices leads people to claim they have no time. The speaker encourages embracing the freedom to make choices about how to spend our time, suggesting that time management is about making sacrifices for a meaningful life.
🌟 The Societal Impact of Time Management
In this paragraph, the speaker broadens the discussion to the societal implications of time management, emphasizing its collective nature and the impact of individual choices on the world. The speaker questions the common excuses for not engaging in civic duties or social activities, suggesting that a philosophical approach to time management could lead to more meaningful participation in society. The call to action is to share time with loved ones and to continuously ask questions about how we spend our time, advocating for a mindful and philosophically informed approach to living.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Philosophy
💡Time Management
💡Existentialism
💡Mortality
💡Productivity
💡Death
💡Freedom
💡Consequences
💡Choices
💡Isolation
💡Sacrifice
Highlights
The speaker's childhood fear of boredom led to a deep realization about the inevitability of death and the finite nature of time.
Philosophy is about asking important questions, especially regarding how to use our limited time meaningfully.
Modern time management focuses on productivity and efficiency, but lacks the philosophical depth of its ancient roots.
Ancient philosophers were concerned with using time to create meaningful lives, in contrast to today's more superficial approach.
The common saying 'time is money' is criticized for cheapening the true value of our finite time.
Thinking of time as money can lead to negative consequences like impatience, greed, and reduced willingness to help others.
Roman philosopher Seneca's view that valuing time as money is undervaluing it, as we have a limited amount of time.
French philosopher Albert Camus suggests that contemplating death can help clarify what we truly value in life.
The speaker challenges the notion that time cannot be managed, using personal anecdotes and philosophical arguments.
The idea that 'I don't have time' is called the biggest lie, as it often masks a lack of prioritization and meaningful choices.
Our great-grandparents had less time due to more demanding work and life conditions, yet they did not complain as much as we do.
Today's society has more time and flexibility, yet we still claim to not have enough time, indicating a deeper issue.
Philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre's perspective on the fear of freedom and the responsibility that comes with it.
The fear of making wrong choices with our time can lead to avoidance and excuses instead of embracing the freedom to manage it.
Time management is a societal issue, not just an individual one, with impacts on voting, reading, and social interactions.
The importance of asking the right questions in time management, rather than seeking quick tips and shortcuts.
A call to embrace philosophy in time management to live more meaningfully and make better use of our time.
Transcripts
[Applause]
[Music]
when I was six years old my biggest fear
was to get bored I used to make to-do
lists every single day so to always have
something to do
but one day I was watching this
documentary on sea turtles and it said
that sea turtles can live up to 150
years of age and I realized as a
six-year-old kid and I'm probably not
gonna live that long I'm gonna die it
was such a strange realization don't you
feel weird sometimes when you realize
that no matter what you do in life still
gonna die in the end so I ran to my
mother and asked your mom is it cuter
we're all gonna die someday you me dad
my friends and she said yes we're all
gonna die there's nothing you can do
about that and I was terrified I started
to cry I cried so hard because of what
death meant it literally means the end
of existence the end of everything and I
wondered what's the point of all this so
I turned to my mom still crying and said
so why do we work why do I have to work
what does dad have to work so much if he
and everybody else are gonna die anyway
she never answered my question
but that question stuck with me ask
myself a lot of questions and I'm sure
you do too
that's what philosophy is all about
asking questions and what could be more
important than asking questions about
how to use your time probably nothing
because time is all we have so naturally
you would expect the hold time
management movement to be very
philosophical
after all time management is a concept
that started out in philosophy the
ancient philosophers were obsessed with
this one very important question how can
we use our time in a way that makes our
lives meaningful but modern time
management is philosophically empty time
management books are written by
consultants not philosophers it's always
about tips and tricks and techniques to
get more things done to do things faster
to be more productive more efficient and
to work better time management has
become philosophically empty time
management has moved away from his
philosophical roots but if we really
want to live a meaningful life we have
to once again reinforce and philosophy
starts with questions here's a very
simple question why do we need to manage
time some people might say it's because
time is precious very precious so we
need to manage it but how precious is
time exactly see whenever I introduced
myself to people as a time management
researcher the first thing people say is
oh yeah time management it's that's
really important because because time is
money time is money
every time I hear time is money it
reminds me of this conversation I had
over coffee with this acquaintance of
mine he was a he was a contractor as
what we're talking he looked slightly
annoyed and impatient so I asked him
Jeff what's going on man everything all
right and he said she said I hate
wasting my time makes me so so angry
it's awesome what do you mean and he
said look I make on in 60 dollars an
hour that means every hour I spend with
you I'm losing 160 bucks I was slightly
offended to be honest but it's what he
said next that really shocked me he said
whenever I'm spending time with my own
kids it makes me so angry because yeah
i'm spending time with them but every
hour i spend with my kids I'm not making
$160 and it's not just an anecdote you
can see this everywhere experiments show
that whenever people start to think of
time as money they become more agitated
less happy always in a rush and
importantly they get greedy they become
less likely to help people out to
volunteer or to think about the
environment because nothing else matters
when you're making out in $60 an hour
the real question is is money the real
value of time the Roman philosopher
Seneca said that if we think of time as
money we're actually valuing our time
very cheaply we value our time very
cheaply because we think we're we have a
lot of it because we think we're gonna
live forever but we're not gonna live
forever we're gonna die and the moment
you realize and I mean fully realized
that you're going to die on an $60 an
hour it won't mean much time is not
money anymore now some people might say
that thinking about death is not exactly
cheerful maybe but it's very helpful the
French philosopher Albert Camus
said that the most fundamental question
in philosophy is why shouldn't I kill
myself right now it's true why shouldn't
kill you why shouldn't you kill yourself
right now your answer to that question
will remind you what you're truly living
for your answer to that question will
remind you of the true value of your
time because time is not money when you
know you're going to die and this is how
philosophy helps with time management
it helps us ask meaningful questions
about time
here's another seemingly simple question
can you manage time back in college I
had this uh.this professor used to tell
me that you can't manage time time
management is you can't manage
time because there's too much too many
things to do too much work to do too
many obligations you can't manage time
she's to publicly brag about how she
never sees her daughter because she has
she never has time people admired her
because she was so productive but what
people didn't know was that her work
obligations also made her depressed they
cost her a marriage and of course she
never really got to know our daughter
but what truly pains me is that things
could have been otherwise she could've
been all out she could have been alive
today and see her daughter grew up but
she didn't believe that time could be
managed so she never tried whenever I
used to drop by her office she would
tell me sorry kiddo I don't have time
but that was a lie I don't have time is
the biggest lie in the history of
mankind you know who really didn't have
time your great grandparents those guys
had no time at all they had to work 12
hours a day every single day it's not
just work everything back then was more
time-consuming people didn't have
washing machines so they'd have to wash
everything by hand they didn't have
frozen meals so that to cook everything
from scratch and all those things took
hours to do back in the days that's why
a great grandparents really didn't have
time
but here's the incredible thing our
great-grandparents did not complain
about not having time we do it's a
paradox we have more time than they did
and yet we still complain that we don't
have time why because we have more
options more freedom to choose our time
options as we please
look at how we live today we can shop on
Amazon 24/7 any day of the year
women can delay pregnancy by freezing
their eggs more and more companies offer
flexible work schedules we can watch our
favorite shows any time I want on
Netflix so not only do we have more time
but we have also have a lot more
flexibility a lot more a lot more
freedom to use our time as we please
and we still say that we don't have time
why the philosopher jean-paul Sartre has
said that we have this tendency to trick
ourselves into thinking we're not free
because being free to use your time as
you please means that you have to make a
choice and live with the consequences of
that choice that mean that means
whatever you do with your time it's on
you and that's the scary part it's scary
because what if we made the wrong
choices
what if we're missing out it's this
constant fear of missing out would your
life have been better had you spent more
time with your kids or more time
studying or more time partying maybe we
don't want to know that's why we say we
don't have time it gives us an excuse
it's reassuring but in reality we do
have time and time can be managed it's
just that we don't have a lot of it so
they have to be sacrifices we can't have
it all when it comes to time we can
either make sacrifices or make excuses
but only one of them will allow you to
live meaningfully we live in an era of
unprecedented flexibility where we
actually afford to work less and do more
meaningful things with our time so why
don't we and by we I really mean us you
me and everybody else in the city
because time management is not just
about you it's about all of us it's
about all of us as a society the way you
manage your time has huge consequences
for our world what do people say when
they don't vote I didn't have time what
do people say we didn't read I don't
have time why don't people relax go the
museum or volunteer I don't have time
but this wouldn't be the case if we
thought about time management the way
philosophers do by asking questions the
right questions instead of focusing on
tips tricks and shortcuts so what kind
of questions can we ask ourselves well
is it reasonable to let you boss call
you on weekends is it worth it is it
worth your time and buy time I really
mean life not money because you're not
paying your bosses with some with some
commodity you're paying them with your
time you're paying them with your life
if that's not precious I don't know what
is next time you tell a friend you don't
have time to hang out ask yourself if
you actually have better things to do
or if you're just making excuses because
there's a growing sense of isolation in
Western societies people feel alone
partly because people feel they don't
have time to hang out anymore though we
do have time so please share it with the
people you care about if you can
remember if you want to if you want to
manage your time meaningfully embrace
philosophy and never stop asking
questions thank you
you
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