How to manage your time without going crazy?

Time management is not a problem exclusive to our days, since from ancient Greece to the present day, there have been many thinkers, such as Seneca in 'On the Shortness of Life', who have considered that The brevity of life is the defining problem of human existence .

The notion of time has changed over time. In the past, there was no need to think of time as something abstract and distinct from life. For example, harvest time is dictated by nature, not a calendar, which led historians to refer to this way of life as "task-oriented," since the rhythms of life emerge organically from the tasks themselves. However, The time pressure we're currently experiencing stems largely from external forces : the ferocious economy, the loss of social and family safety nets, and the sexist expectation that women should excel at work while shouldering the bulk of the responsibilities at home. To combat this pressure, British writer and journalist Olivier Burkeman, author of "Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals" (Editorial Planeta), recommends: find the time to dedicate to what seems important to us and not what a priori seems to be important.

We're aware that most time management advice promotes the idea that one day we'll be able to do it all and become masters of our time, fully optimized and emotionally invincible. Based on this idea, we want to offer you two different perspectives on how to make the most of every minute. On the one hand, we find the proposals of Oliver Burkeman, who has drawn on the ideas of ancient and contemporary philosophers, psychologists, and spiritual masters to create a guide for building a meaningful life, with achievable goals and a commitment to everything that's truly worthwhile. The first thing he recommends is embracing the doctrine of Martin Heidegger. We confess, before continuing, that when thinking about how to control time, we've often imagined the anguished rabbit from "Alice in Wonderland," so suddenly mentioning Heidegger has thrown us off. But the truth is that the philosopher pointed out how our existence is inextricably linked to our limited time. Oliver Burkeman invites us to focus our attention on how extraordinary it is to exist, and how little time we have to do it, so that we may experience a tangible change in our way of being here.

Here are the experts' tips:

- Set a maximum number of projects you can work on simultaneously. The limit? According to time management experts, no more than three at a time.

- Rick Pastoor recommends that we not overlook the "lost" time we tend to forget, which is why it always seems like there's never enough time. Including travel time to a meeting, for example, is essential, because travel can take up a significant portion of our schedule.

- Avoid multitasking. Experts say we can maintain absolute concentration for a maximum of 11 minutes. Mute notifications on all your devices.

- Schedule time to do nothing. Yes, rest is also part of the routine.

Recommended books: Grip Method (Rick Pastoor) and Four Thousand Weeks (Oliver Burkeman)

Source: Elle Español