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We live in an era of time anxiety. There never seems to be enough time in the day. More existentially, people who can see beyond the day or week sometimes worry that time is running out in their lives.

When entrepreneur Chris Guillebeau wrote about the issue on his blog, angst-ridden comments poured in, leading him to believe this is a serious, understated problem. The concern, he notes, is cross-generational, hitting people of all ages. And it’s more than fear of missing out, which is focused on the present while time anxiety raises concerns about the past and future as well as the present. “You feel regretful about the past, uncertain or hesitant about the present and apprehensive about the future,” he writes in his book Time Anxiety.

While we seek relief in productivity hacks, he suggests those only mask the problem. The more work we accomplish, the more seems to remain. Another barrage of emails will flood your uncluttered inbox; another set of tasks rise up to replace those completed.

There’s obviously no simple solution but he suggests you need to start by breaking the stress cycle, reducing the immediate pressure you feel. That requires time decluttering: Look at your calendar for the next few weeks and challenge yourself to remove a few items.

Next, he urges you to reduce your many inboxes, which have been expanding over the years. Beyond email, there’s voicemail and messaging apps, social media profiles people can respond to and work networks.

“Being accessible all the time is costly! You can get some of your attention back by stepping away from some of these tools or at least minimizing your use of them,” he advises. Think through all the different ways people can reach you and try to turn off at least one.

Notice how it feels to give yourself more time. Don’t automatically siphon that off to more tasks. Use some of it for activities that feel joyful, refreshing and stimulating. Start to see yourself not as someone oppressed by too many tasks to accomplish in too little time but as someone who is figuring things out.

Reframe the time rules that govern your life. These have been assembled over the years by your own inclinations and the demands of others. He stresses time rules should exist to serve you, rather than you serve the time rules.

You have a rule about punctuality but the definition of being on time, he notes, actually varies widely. Perhaps you believe you must return all phone calls within an hour or reply to every email that same day. Maybe you can’t go to bed unless you have completed your to-do list.

Identify all those rules and ask whether each serves your well-being and aligns with your values. Consider whether the rule might be overly rigid and inflexible, causing you stress. Ask what would happen if you broke or modified the rule – would your world collapse or would things actually be better?

Next, create a new set of rules that reflect your desired relationship with time. Keep them flexible, allowing for grace and self compassion. He offers these suggestions:

  • I will prioritize self-care and rest, recognizing that downtime is essential for my well-being and productivity.
  • I will set realistic expectations for myself and others, acknowledging that perfectionism is not always necessary or achievable.
  • I will focus on the task at hand, rather than constantly worrying about the future or dwelling on the past.
  • I will regularly reassess my commitments and priorities, making adjustments to ensure alignment with my values and goals.

More specifically, add rules that set out when your phone goes to bed, a period in the day when you will take a walk, specific times to check and respond to emails and boundaries for transitions from one meeting or task to another that allow you time to refresh. Identify a maximum of three priorities for each day to keep your work focused.

Be gentle, not rigid. Make the rules help you quell time anxiety rather than add to it.

Quick hits

  • “Writing is the process by which you realize that you do not understand what you are talking about,” says Ottawa thought leader Shane Parrish.
  • Yue Zhao flopped in her first job interview with a top management consulting firm because she couldn’t properly structure her thoughts when responding to a question, getting lost in details. Now an executive coach, she recommends practising for such situations by talking through tersely how to do a task from beginning to end without stopping or going back, then returning to fill in details once the high-level structure has been set. For example: “To bake a cake, there are three steps: Find the recipe, mix the ingredients and bake.” Now you can discuss getting the recipe or what the ingredients might be.
  • Colin Chapman, design engineer and founder of Lotus Cars, offered this recipe for high performance: “Simplify, then add lightness.”

Harvey Schachter is a Kingston-based writer specializing in management issues. He, along with Sheelagh Whittaker, former CEO of both EDS Canada and Cancom, are the authors of When Harvey Didn’t Meet Sheelagh: Emails on Leadership.