Can We Conquer Time?

Can we conquer time?

Can we conquer time? Of course not – it’s a finite resource to be used somewhere on the continuum from used wisely to fully squandered. It’s not that we don’t have enough time; there is plenty of time to have a full life of experiences, memories, achievements and a relative absence of regret.

With another “Back to School” season in full swing, we figured we’d explore the philosophy behind time management as the subject of this month’s blog-- and thereby in part support “Remember The Milk (RTM),” a todo list app that is featured as our App of the Month, along with the Tech Tips supporting use of RTM and more generally evaluating the best todo list apps.

Existence/Purpose/Time/Organization/Management/Measurement

Whether it’s school work, home work or balancing activities; a large part of educational development and success is time management. It’s a skill that you’ll see discussed at length in Back to School content for teachers, students, parents and children.

But what’s the philosophy-- the “why” and overall framework here? It boils down concepts of existence, purpose, time, organization, management and measurement:

Existence: As sentient beings we exist from birth until death.

Purpose: During our existence, we have a finite number of experiences, memories and achievements. We can feel happy, fulfilled and grateful; or have feelings of unhappiness, emptiness and regret – all derived from our experiences, memories and achievements. Our purpose can be accretive or dissolve, and it naturally ebbs and flows over time.

Time: Moments pass one after another from our earliest memories, to the present, and into the future until the time of our death. We cannot go back and add extra time, nor extend the end beyond the time that we have. We have enough time to be fulfilled or alternatively feel regret. Not every moment need be perfect, and regretful moments in our past do not need to perpetuate into our future. We can only live in the present.

Organization: We find purpose in planning and experiencing specific experiences, memories and achievements; as well as undergoing periods or test, trial and even failure. Consciously and subconsciously the mind is organizing and steering us to and through experiences, memories and achievements. Consciously, we organize and plan tasks, requirements, projects for the future as a guide for our actions in the present.

Management: These are the choices and controls that we try, hoping to influence the results of our actions in the present. Our management effort can be apt or inept, and hopefully learns and evolves as we pass through time.

Measurement: We can experience success or failure, or a range of partial outcomes in between. We can experience happiness or unhappiness, or a range of feelings in between. We can be fulfilled or left empty, or a range of feelings in between. We can be grateful or regretful, or a range of states in between. Based on these measurements, we ponder the value of our existence, the impact of our purpose, the fullness of time, changes in planning and organization, how we manage moments, and what measurements matter most to us.

What is Education’s Place in the Philosophy of Time and Experience?

Education is a structured learning environment for living our lives in future moments -- for making the most of our existence, reaching our potential and purpose, making the most of our time, and developing the organizational/management/measurement skills to get from the beginning until the end.

Putting Philosophy to a Practical Use

Hopefully, the short structured paragraphs of this blog can raise someone’s conscious awareness, either directly as they are written or as the inspiration to gently lead/guide a student, child, peer, mentee or ourselves along a path to a more positive life outcome.

Conclusion: Conquering Time

We can’t literally conquer time, i.e. not by magically getting more of it. But we can “conquer” time by developing a more conscious and subconscious awareness of the elements covered in this blog. So if some small way you can tie schoolwork/homework/learning to the framework of this blog, you’re well on your way to reaching educational success.

Guest Blogger:

Bill Franklin, the CEO of Internet4Classrooms, is our guest blogger this month. He has been on the faculty at The George Washington University, has years of platform instructional experience, was a career Army Special Operations officer and also has decades of experience as a youth sports coach.