Are you a slave to Time?
So is time turning you into a slave? Has time actually taken control of you in such a manner that your entire life, no matter how closed or open, is actually based on one single element called time? The very reason watches exist is for you to know where to go next, when to stop having fun, when to stop eating, when to wake up, when to start driving and when to start panicking. You depend on time so much that the concept of calendar came into being to look at time on a bigger scale than a watch. Not only do you have to know how long to be a slave today, you must know what to do and what not to do for days, weeks, months and even years ahead!
So how does time actually control you? Let us look at the idea of time and how it controls you all the time by simply focusing on the things time tells you to do regularly.
5 Ways You May Be a Slave of Time
- You sleep because time tells you to sleep.
This is probably the most common element of having time control you. Instead of going to sleep when you feel sleepy or when you cannot stay awake anymore, society tells you to go to sleep based on how late it is in the evening. Usually for people who work, this means going to sleep by 9pm and for everyone else, by 10pm on a weekday.
Sleeping is one of the most basic reactions of a human body where it tries to recharge itself. The real freedom is to sleep when you want to or when you feel the need to sleep, instead of when time tells you to sleep. Society tells you to depend only on time when you want to sleep. And thus you become a slave to the time as it even dictates when you can be awake and when you may be able to sleep.
- Time tells you when to eat daily.
This is again something we let time control. We have changed our habits so much that our bodies are now living around the concept of eating when it is office lunch hour and getting hungry when office hours finish.
You may be hungry at other times, though you hold off your hunger until it is the approved time to eat or until it is time when everyone else around you eats. What better way to turn you into a slave than to control the most elemental thing you do daily to survive every day: eat!
- Time dictates how you treat the world.
If it is bright day light and you see some stranger on the street, you may not be as scared as seeing the same someone on the street at night. Similarly, seeing a homeless person at night may scare you, but seeing the same homeless person during the day may make you feel disgusted or bothered by their gross existence.
Society has told us that time, day and night to be exact, serve a purpose. The “light” and “dark” concepts have made us realize that any time it is night, things can go bad and we should hide in our homes, and that any day light time means we should go out and do things.
- Time dictates your money.
We are used to paying first for food and then getting food at fast food places. Similarly, we are used to eating first and then paying at big restaurants. Most people expect to get paid on Fridays in America, while many people expect to pay credit card bills around the 1st of the month. You can only spend your money till 9pm in most shopping malls in America, while you are allowed to take out only up to $300 to $500 per day maximum from most checking accounts using your debit card, even if your bank account has thousands of actual dollars in it.
This trend of expecting to earn money around a certain time and spending money around a certain time continues all year. This trend becomes very clear during the holidays when the entire focus of your money is on spending it. It is interesting how instead of basing our income on how hard we work for it or what we barter for it or what we do to get it, we focus on the time around which we have to revolve our lives in order to get the money we actually earn.
- Time dictates your happiness.
All holidays are actually time based events which dictate what you will be doing for yourself and others every year, and how, at what times. Christmas tells you what to do and how to celebrate it, while New Year’s tells you that it is time to actually celebrate the farewell of the previous year. New Year’s also tells you to start making new plans, while Valentine’s days and wedding anniversaries tell you to focus on loving others around you and to show public displays of affection.
All these holidays, resolutions and ceremonial events are based on the concept of time. Instead of letting our actual feelings tell us what or when we want to show or feel in terms of happiness, we wait for the predefined times that society says are acceptable.
Does Time Whip You Daily, Slave?
We rely on time in every manner possible. Laptops, desktops, cell phones, watches, microwave ovens, TVs, cars and even clocks in shopping malls. We rely on them to tell us when to pick up things, when to pay, when to return something, when to buy something, when to go somewhere, when to talk to someone, when to go online, when to wake up, when to go to sleep, when to rest, when to eat, when to shower, when to call someone and even when to actually stop looking at time for a certain amount of time. Time is dictating all the actions. Time is dictating life itself too.
So, based on the above information and examples, do you think time is dictating your life? Are you a slave whose handcuffs are actual time fronts energized by the passage and counting of each hour and every minute of every single day? Even the concept of a “day” is based on time; does that dictate your behavior regularly?
Please share your answers, thoughts and ideas by commenting below.
Thank you for reading. I really appreciate it. Remember: take all the time in the world to reply today, though try to do it immediately after reading this. 
It's a little harsh to call all of us slaves, because in the end we all run our lives according to some time coordinates. And it's not something we can change, time is cyclic: after winter comes spring, and after that summer…and so on.
We are all slaves to time.
It's about how we spend time
and how we conceptualise it
that sets us free.
in todays era its necessary to be slave of time.otherwise you can never compete
nice tips to u
I think, we really are slaves of time. We don't have a control in time nor we can't stop it. Time really matters in everything. When I started working in the office, I realized how important a second was. We need to be in the office before our working hours start. But it happens that I can't really arrive early in the office because sometimes I can encounter problems on my way to the office. When this happens, I am rushing to the office and do log-in. And sometimes I arrive at the office and the only time left for me not to be considered as late is just seconds. Of course, there are consequences given to me if I am late.
We need to manage ourselves not manage time!
Very thought provoking article. I think that in many ways we have become a slave to time. It seems that here in America, we spend our entire day just rushing from point A to point B. I think we have lost the ability to slow down, relax, and enjoy our life.
I agree with Mia. I think "slaves" is too much. We need to follow a precise pattern or direction lest we fall into chaotic living. But this is a very nice post. Keep it up!
Great insight. Unfortunately we can't control time and if everyone around us is a slave to time it's very hard to break free…
I never, and i mean never have enough time in a day, i need there to be 48 hours in a day!!
I think to some extent, we all have become a slave to time in this country. Unfortunately, in our modern culture, if you do not have some sense of urgency and rush, you get left behind.
Automation is key for any business professional these days to avoid becoming a slave to your schedule.
I disagree because its impossible that time turned us into slave.I think the people around us.
Slaves to time or slaves to routine, as routine can be defined with iteration of time it could possibly have the same meaning.
Yeah I must admit we are all slaves and to wages as well…
I personally dont worry about the time I do what I do when it needs doing a clock or a watch really has very little use to me
Yvonne
I often feel like a slave of time. Sometimes I wish I could live without a watch and without a mobile phone.
Although we all are slaves of time but we actually cannot do much about it. Often time boundaries are good because they teach us to live in a mannered way but sometime these are bad like time tells us to go to office and do some work.
It's one way of saying it, that we are all slaves to time, but I agree with the first comment, it's a bit harsh. I would rather think of it as something that man needs in order to function. Time is after all really just man-made. It gives us a sense of organization and direction in our lives.
I think in today's society you almost have to be a slave to time if you want to live a comfortable lifestyle. Most careers are time driven. If we weren't driven by a clock, then we would need to find some other way of organizing ourselves or we would have chaos. I think humans need some type of a framework to work within to be productive.
The blog is far better way to share your important thoughts with someone else. Blogging make you to promote your unique content on Internet. This makes a easy to share feeling and knowledge with everyone. I love to be the part of this fantastic blog and i love to visit here again.
Pretty right,I can’t do anything with watch,go work,go shopping and so on.Because it gives me a regular life time,I am sure I am a slave,but what can I do?
Self management and time management can free you to do the things you want – its all in the planning. Self employed people will tell you that they prioritise their time towards those things that make the most difference. Delegate everything else and your life will be alot smoother.
I agree with a lot of the points made in the article. We definitely live in a society where time is obsessed over. To me, the most important key to being productive and to not be sidetracked by distractions at work is being organized. Set up an environment that is conducive to accomplishing work and be sure to prioritize and do what is important first.
Jenny?? Wow, thanks for appropriating my comment. Could you at least insert @ followed by my original keyword-> Jewelry for the name? I took time to write that comment, at the very least you could give properly give credit.
- Not Jenny
Hi Jenny [or what should I call you], relax. I really appreciate your comment [they're real & I like them]. I get so much spam along with so many real comments, I end up deleting spam or editing keywords to ensure spam doesn't trickle through. Your comment I still approved, though I chose Jenny as a random name.
What name would you like associated with your comments? You can always edit your comments for up to one hour for any edits also if you wish.
I am thinking of simply letting any username/keyword through, as the comment can be the only focus I should think about.
Time schedule is important, but it should be under our control…..
I agree with most of what you wrote and congratulate you on your curriculum of becoming a website author.I think the people around us.
Ya its a great post and really worth to read we have to take time as a very precious thing otherwise time neglect us….
Getting fresh content for blogs every time is another issue for blog writers. I have heard that asking readers for advise is a good way to do it.we all should have to know the importance of time…
I am not a slave of time. I am slave of my wife………don't take it serious. Your 5 suggestions of time affects on our daily routine are appreciable…………….Thanks for Nice sharing…………!
This was an interesting tip from you. You are very kind to share this to everyone.
I've never thought of considering time from this point of view, before. It's worth doing and the more that you think about it then the more questions it raises. For example, company profits are not based upon how many hours people stand behind a counter or sit behind a desk. It depends on the output and profitability of the activity and there isn't that strong a relationship with time. It's interesting to spend a day without wearing a watch and to see how you still know what time it is by the events happening around you.
ya no one is slave for the time but makes them so…..things that u r not able to control
Great piece. This is the type of information that should gain recognition for it’s craft. Thanks for the useful post like this.
Interesting article. I think time is important for organization. If we weren't a slave to it we wouldn't have an accurate way to gauge when to do things.
I'd say that I'm a slave to snoose alarm each morning. Without at least 3 or 4 alarms and repeatedly checking the clock I'd doubt that I'd be able to structure my day.
- stephen
Great topic about time. As I read it, I find it true. We are being slave by time and sometimes we are running out of it. We just have to discipline first our self in order not be slave by time but we can’t go away with it. Time is our basis in every acts that we do…Time after time…..
Hey Erwin,
Haha @ Time after Time. Do you mean we should work around the time constraints, or simply leave things as they are?
Hi Bes Zain….What i mean is, in things we do time is our basis. After we do finish our work in the scheduled date, we do another tasks in accordance with the time we set…Anyway what can you say about that “time after time”? hehehe
Ervin, thanks for sharing more.
Do you think doing things based on time is more controlling and stressful than doing things based on something else?
“Time after time” = I can hear that part of song every time those words are mentioned, lol.