Carpe Diem! How to make the most of time by living mindfully

Time – What does it feel like to you? 

Do you feel like it is disappearing fast or are you taking each moment and savouring it, knowing that it won’t come again?

Life is precious. Do you know how to make the most of it?

This week I decided to write about the concept of time and how we relate to it…and the more I thought about time, the more time it seemed to take up.

If you think about time, it’s constant and always there, just ticking away in the back ground, yet at the same time – dictating almost every aspect of life. You simply can’t escape time!

Time ticks away…and life is measured by the passage of time.

People wish for more time, less time…but are rarely happy with the metronome of time.

Think about the many phases that are used in relation to time…

Waste time

Pass time

Kill time

Take your time

Save time

Out of time

Mind the time

Time flies

…and the list goes on…

However, while the measurement of time is constant, the perception of time seems to speed up as you get older, and there are several theories as to why this is the case.

• As you get older, each year is a smaller proportion of your life and therefore each year feels shorter relative to the time you have lived and thus time seems to fly.

• As you age, a person’s internal clock runs slower and thus time seems to pass much faster than you expect.

• Time is marked by the number of new events and therefore when you’re busy, time seems to fly by, as opposed to when you’re bored, where time seems to drag.

How to seize the day: Mindfulness will change your sense of time and help create amazing memories

I really like this last theory as it suggests that if you’re engaged in an activity or pursuit that is focused on noticing the present and being mindful of the current experience, then time doesn’t seem to matter.

• Have you ever noticed time when completely immersed in a fabulous movie?

• Have you ever noticed time when engrossed in a stimulating conversation that you hope never ends?

• What about that book you couldn’t put down last week and then you looked at your watch and suddenly realised it was way past your normal bed time?

Think about this in your own life… how often do you lose a sense of time and immerse yourself in something completely to the exclusion of everything else?

• What does that feel like? How does it add to your experience? How does it make it memorable?

• As these examples illustrate, this also explains why time flies when you’re having fun – and drags on when you’re bored.

• If you’re really mindful, you don’t notice the external world, or the measurement of time – as you completely focus on what you’re doing. Most importantly this is how you can make the most of time.

So you have a choice every day to consider how to use your time and live your life. How will you live each moment?

As the late, great Robin Williams said to his students in the legendary movie “Dead Poets Society”,

“Carpe Diem, Seize the day, Make your lives extraordinary”

Challenge yourself to make the most of time by being present and being mindful. Time doesn’t have to disappear or seem like a negative that you fight against or fritter away.

In fact, by moving towards the things that are important to you in a meaningful and purposeful way: you move towards living a life that you choose.

So remember, being mindful also means paying attention to the details and incorporating all of your senses into the remembering process — that is, stopping to experience and savour the present – and thus make the most of your life!

“Tell me, what is it you plan to do
With your one wild and precious life?”                      

Mary Oliver

 

John Pertl

Psychologist