Time is an aspect of life I have always been a little obsessed over. It ticks by, “tick tock”, and never returns. When you are bored or doing something you hate it, goes by far too slow; and when you are busy or doing something you love, it goes by far too fast. While time is a somewhat relative dimension on our lives, it also seems to be the only absolute and unchanging aspect of our earthly existence. Time goes on, and on, and on; and I suppose it will keep doing so until our solar system stops expanding. Then, who knows, maybe it rewinds and starts again…

Anyway when it comes to time, one thing I’m acutely aware of at the moment, is that there quite simply is not enough of it.

Any regular readers of this blog might have noticed a drastic reduction of entries in the last month or so. That’s because, for the first time in about 8 years, I have a 9 to 5 job. It’s not even full time – I’m working a total of 3.5 days a week – and I actually love the job I’m doing (an admin role at the Center for Peace and Conflict Studies, University of Sydney and a communications role for my Dad’s business) but the new routine nature of my weeks is enough to make my weeks fly by in the blink of an eye.

A social life is part to blame. But hey, I’m 28, isn’t that what I’m “supposed” to be doing? And after a day of work it’s so easy to justify an after-work drink or dinner and then some television or a movie… another week well enjoyed and another week gone down the drain.

Lately I’ve observed my mind complaining that there is not enough time to work and sleep, to see this friend and skype with that friend, to reply to emails, to watch my sister’s netball game, do yoga, read the twenty or so books and pages and pages of articles waiting for me to read, and also to post entries on this blog.

What was God thinking when he created 24 hour days? How much better would it have been if they were 30 hours, even 28 hours – imagine having four more hours to read or sleep or sit in the sun or catch up with friends… I wonder if even that would be enough?

Anyway, for some reason or another, the earth takes 24 hours to rotate, giving us  a 24 hour framework with which to work, sleep, eat, and relax. Every 365 of these rotations and another year is added to our count, and another round of seasons we get to experience is crossed off the eighty-or-so rounds we get in this life.

I’ve lived through twenty-eight summers, I probably have about fifty-two to go.

That, along with a lot of other badly designed features of our planet (and especially our species), is a pretty good case against there being a God. Before I go down the path of God talk, distinguishing between different conceptions of “God” as a separate divine designer, or “God” a personification of the evolving macrocosm we are a part of, I will catch myself and return to today’s topic: making time.

I can complain all I like about there not being enough time to do the things I want to do, but it’s not going to change anything. I need to go back to those good ol’ principles of time management skills: set goals, prioritise the important ones, group & streamline the less important ones, don’t procrastinate, and learn to say no. Implementing these skills, while keeping in mind to live in the moment, enjoy the process, and follow your dreams, is probably far too many paradoxical self-help tips that my mind can deal with today.

I guess in the end the most important thing is to make sure you make time for the things that are most important to you.

We live within twenty-four, 365 days, for an average 80-years framework, so there’s no point complaining about it… we may as well embrace it. Twenty-four hours is plenty – so long as each day is lived to the full. On (western) average, these 29,200 days (80 x 365) in the one conscious is more-than-enough – so long as a whole you spend the time accomplishing whatever you feel you are on this planet to accomplish.

It’s time to make time.