"I have all the time in the world." Horst D. Lindenau, founder of the international Terrestrial Life Management (TerLiMa), can say that about himself.
TerLiMa News asks.
TerLiMa News: What does time mean to you?
Horst D. Lindenau: Time is God. That's the only one that exists. Without time, nothing is imaginable for us. Time comes first in everything. And that's precisely why I'm surprised that so little is being done in the world for sensible time management. Is there a renowned chair dedicated solely to time? Today, it's always about being fast and faster. All areas of life are infected by this madness. People want to be fast, but punctuality, time resources, and slowing down remain foreign concepts.
I remember returning from a six-week tour of Spain 35 years ago. Nobody here wanted to believe me that the trains there were absolutely unpunctual. And these days, it's happened here too.
When I hear that idiotic phrase "academic quarter." That's the biggest nonsense. Why can't academics be punctual? Just visit India. The trains run on time there.
TerLiMa News: Why is it essential to organise your time?
Horst D. Lindenau: We live in an era where we can definitely speak of time abundance. No rational person could rightfully say, "I don't have time." It's simply a question of self-organisation, of one's own time management. That means discovering time-wasters and banishing them. I'm thinking primarily of the unfortunately widespread consumption of television. In practice, that's probably the number one time-waster.
TerLiMa News: Time abundance? What does that mean?
Horst D. Lindenau: Some people take the easy way out and believe the saying, "If you have enough money, you don't have time, or, in other words, if you have a lot of time, you don't have any money." That's sheer nonsense. Time and money are unrelated. Money is only a temporary phenomenon in societies; time is always there and will continue to be so in the future.
"Time affluence" means, "I simply have free time at my disposal today thanks to modern life, which didn't exist 100 years ago." People work less and don't have to worry about procuring food as much as they did in the past. Unfortunately, most of our contemporaries allow this affluence to be taken away directly by television.
But there are even more time-killers. The computer is poised to compete with television, offering shallow content, games, and the like. Another time-killer comes from the general acceleration of life. Everything must happen immediately. Patience is uncool and already difficult for many to bear. Just-in-time is the motto. I want it and I like it now. Of course, you must let go of that if you want to manage your time. Slowing down is appropriate here.
TerLiMa-News: How can someone start with themselves?
Slowing down occurs, for example, during a leisurely breakfast, ideally with friends or family; it can also be effective at work. Or reading the newspaper in peace and quiet, taking the day in stride and planning. Of course, those who get up late and then have to rush to work don't come up with such ideas. Slowing down also occurs when I meet people, not particularly on my schedule, as VIP contacts, but simply to communicate, exchange ideas, and meet real people. Not just online or passively watching like soap operas on TV.
TerLiMa-News: You once said that one should count one's days, not the years one lives. Why?
Horst D. Lindenau: The average life expectancy in Europe in 2000 was 63 years, for men and women combined. That's a damn short life if I live by current standards. Here, simply converting years to days creates a visual gain in time. 63 years is about 22,000 days. And then I really have to live them purposefully, consciously, and well-organised. That's pure time gain through a different perspective on essentially identical periods. Because 24 hours are still 24 hours. Even if I compare hours to apples. Nature shows us how. Time is directly tied to activity and inactivity. There's nothing in between. A tree will never waste its time. The tree has a mission and must be fulfilled within the available time.
TerLiMa-News: Back to my question: What can individuals do most effectively for themselves to gain time?
Horst D. Lindenau: Nobody needs to gain time. It's there, after all. And the same for everyone. It's necessary to create a time hygiene.
A good tip would be to write down how a typical week goes for you. This way, you can quickly see the time-wasters and then specifically eliminate them. What doesn't exist is a time policy; everyone can implement that for themselves. Put everything you have to do to the test. Is that really necessary? Then you'll also experience joy in life and freedom from stress.
Let's be honest: If you stay in bed until 10:00 in the morning and then watch five hours of television in the evening, time has already flown by. I've had some good experiences contemplating time through meditation. Through meditation, it is possible to experience time in a differentiated way. But here, too, an hour has 60 minutes.
