Shifting Towards a New Mindset of Time as a Cycle

One way to harness your time and productivity is by shifting your mindset around what time is. I’m going to be deconstructing how we currently view time and shift towards time as a cycle in order to create more time and truly harness productivity with this change in perspective.

Time as Linear 

We view time as a linear structure. This is due to the fact that our society is built on the dominance of the patriarchy. 

Let me break that down a bit further. 

Men view time in 24 hour linear sections. Because our society is based on dominant masculine ideologies and structures, this has also created our approach around how we view and interact with time.

A linear view of time means that there is a clear start and finish; the day begins and then it ends. We only have 24 hours in the day. It feels very finite when that perspective is tied together with needing to get “everything” done within that 24 hour period.

Shifting Perspective: Time as a Cycle 

What we really want to do is shift towards seeing time as a cycle. This will be key for how you create more time. Again, due to the fact that we live in a patriarchal society, we see more than just time as linear. Think about how you approach reaching goals, as one clear direction from beginning to end. The focus is always on the end achievement and completing the goal.

However, we want to shift towards seeing time as a cycle. 

Mother nature and our entire world works in cycles. Think about the moon, the seasons, the planets as they turn, and even the days. The days repeat themselves in a cyclical manner as well.

When we can shift to seeing time in that same way – as cyclical – we will begin to benefit from that perspective.

The result? We feel like we have MORE time!

There are two different types of time: Chiros and Chronos

Chronos is the linear time that we know so well, live by, and measure by set clock increments.

Chiros is the feeling of not being confined to time, but rather existing in the flow of the task you are doing or experience you are having. You have the ability of expanding or shrinking this type of time based on your perception, task, and energy. Think about something you love to do that you just get lost in when you’re present with it. Maybe it’s painting or writing or playing with your kids or singing in the car. You don’t feel the pressures of time when you are existing in a present state in these moments. This is the flow.

Linear time is important for creating deadlines and making plans, but when it comes to being productive and feeling like we have “enough” time, we want to shift towards the flow of time to allow ourselves more balance.

Here’s the perspective of time as a cycle.

The 24 hours in the day repeat themselves each day. Just like the seasons repeat themselves each year and the moon repeats its cycle. We have the dawn, noon, dusk, and midnight. And it repeats.

With this mindset, we can shift from seeing time in our days as finite, where we feel the need to get it all done, right now, otherwise the time will run out. The magical thing with the cycle set up, is that we can simply move the task to the next day.

How cool is that!?

Check your mindset

The second crucial shift that needs to happen is the internal one. We are shifting our perspective of time from linear to cyclical; however, that will only benefit us if we also shift the deeper mindset and stories you are telling yourself. 

So, it’s time to check your own mindset. Do you often feel like you don’t have enough time, and catch yourself actually saying that exact phrase? Do you ever say something like “there are never enough hours in the day” or “I’m so busy, I don’t have the time.”?

Those stories that you are telling yourself have become your beliefs.

You believe the truth to be that you actually don’t have enough time and you’re always busy. What you believe creates the stories you tell yourself, your stories create your thoughts, and your thoughts create your reality.

If this, or something similar to this, is your story, then of course it will never feel like you have enough time, because you have taught yourself to believe that to be true. 

So, get clear on the stories you are telling yourself and believing? Are they causing you to live in time poverty (I don’t have enough time) or time prosperity (I always have enough time to complete what needs to get done)?

Two Shifts to Time Freedom

The one shift that needs to happen is the inner mindset of having enough time. This inner shift becomes easier when we can shift our perspective on the structure of time itself, which is the second shift from time as linear to time as cyclical. 

When we harness this idea and perspective of time as infinite, we continue to cycle with time.

Of course, overall our time on this planet in our lives is not infinite (which comes back to being intentional with how you spend your time and that’s a whole other conversation). However, to move away from the overwhelm of getting things done and being busy, we want to create more space in the time we have through this shift.

This also allows us to take a step back and look at the big picture vision.

When we give ourselves permission to spread out work and not create the pressure that it all needs to get done in this moment, we can prioritize differently. We move more towards the feminine energy of going with the flow, adjusting our tasks, and interacting with time as a cycle where we have the space and time to complete the necessary important things. 

Time as a cycle is a new perspective that we want to start implementing where we see things as repetitive, which in turn provides us with the mindset shift that there IS in fact enough time and space to complete things – at least to complete the things that are actually important.