What is time, really? The hands of a clock turning? Or their showing its going by? The cock that cries in the morning to tell us it could be time to get up?
Someone put it like this: “Time is life.”
Some people say: “Time is money.”
How can it be all these things?
Because in effect, time is relative. As Einstein put it shown in the picture above too, it is relative: There is the measuring it, using ‘chronometers’ – the combination of Greek and Latin terms to say:
“a piece of equipment that measures time very accurately” (Cambridge Dictionary, my emphasis).
And there is what we feel about it. It can stretch in front of us apparently endlessly when waiting for something nice to come up – or happen. In some regions of this world it is Christmas, especially as children, that seems to take ages each year to finally happen. In some regions it is Diwali perhaps, or Norooz.
Measuring tasks’ durations now, is a different aspect of time: As also quoted above, time is something that plays a huge role in business. How long to delivery day? When’s the ‘deadline’? In content creation, in opening hours, availability calculations – prices: How much time will it take such and such a number of people until the task is finished. The product ready?
Because, that’s the thing: Time is being paid for, too.
Calculating it can be an art. Because, believe it or not, grown-ups are not always really well-learned in the art of separating fact and feeling; impressions. Thus a meeting can seem too short – or too long. Depending on the point of view.
Suddenly, thinking about it, can make a talk, a discussion or even an argument seem too long. Too much.
I learned early in my professional life to at least get an average of an idea how long a task takes. I was part of several projects in several places of work when working my way through university, where a minute by minute record was kept over a period of 2-3 weeks: Make a call, 10 minutes; write an email 15 minutes to 30 minutes. Look around in the building for 4 certain persons you want to talk to: 30 minutes.
Over time as a working mom, too, I developed a keen awareness of what time each task would – or does – take.
These things sometimes seem so ordinary and self-explanatory.
But just like Einstein – we can be gauging the time taken – all upside-down.
“When you are courting a nice girl, an hour seems like a second. When you sit on a red-hot cinder, a second seems like an hour.
That’s relativity.”