About time and haste, ranslation from Russian

О ВРЕМЕНИ И О СПЕШКЕ

About time properties
Time is a material, of which all our life is made up. Physicists-materialists consider that time is eternal, and its properties are always unchanged. It passes strictly evenly in one direction, only ahead, along the so- called “Time arrow”, without accelerating, slowing down or stopping.
But there are scientists, who perceive every moment of time in the Universe, as having its own characteristic peculiarities, coloring, sounding. There are no two alike moments of time. Time is heterogeneous.
The history of mankind not once has already proved this hypothesis. It was adopted by the contemporary astrologers, whose work consists of properties definition of this or that period of time.
What has happened to our time?
Russian philosopher Alexey Losev made the following discovery in the 20th of our century:  since 1914 time has begun condensing and passing quicker. And people begin experiencing difficulties in such periods.
Haven’t you yourselves experienced, how long the days were passing in childhood, how filled they were in youth?  (“And longer, than century, the day lasts” – it was written by Boris Pasternak) Ask today’s children. They don’t have such a feeling. For them time now runs so, that it is impossible to overtake it.
Today ten years of our life sometimes fly, as one moment… And it takes place, when the human progress is mainly directed at the efforts to save our time. Planes instead of horse carriages, telephones, faxes, computers instead of mail horses and goose pens, televisions instead of theaters, automatic washing machines instead of tubs, zippers and then stickers instead of buttons – everything is meant to save our time. Yet the world has sunk into the general time trouble.
While getting old, it seems to us that the time behavior has worsened, time, a kind of, spoiled. The years pass not the way they used to. You don’t manage to complete a single affair. Don’t accuse the social structure or politicians because of that. These are physical laws and laws of human age, of human mind, it is impossible either to change, or cancel them. But it is possible to come to the understanding with them and make useful for ourselves.

WHAT PSYCHOLOGISTS SAY ABOUT TIME PROPERTIES
Did you notice that pleasant events (for example, meeting acquaintances) pass, as one moment?  But, let us say, the visit to the dentist, waiting for the reception in the dentist’s chair seems to us eternity?
On this account psychologists have formulated the law: WHEN EMOTIONS ARE POSITIVE, TIME PASSES SUBJECTIVELY SOONER, WHEN EMOTIONS ARE NEGATIVE – SLOWER.
This law has an interesting quality: in some time these perceptions change in the opposite directions. Meeting the celebrity is recollected with small particulars and is not already perceived, as something, taking little time. And the dull visit to the dentist is almost wiped from the memory. At any rate, it seems that it has not taken much time.
IT IS POSASIBLE FOR THE HOUSEWIVES, FOR EXAMPLE, TO USE THIS LAW WHILE DOING HOUSE WORK.
Going in for the routine work at home, one can furnish it with some positive emotions.  You may give a call to some friends and speak about children or a good book, film or turn in a favorite music and then set to work. It will be a little holiday. And if you resort to some creative activity in house work – time won’t be wasted at all. And the main thing – it might seem several times shorter.
The mood you work in, will result in the time, spent on it.

ONE MORE PSYCHOLOGICAL LAW ABOUT TIME
Psychologists say that even the negative emotions can make the dull, routine work less unpleasant and long than in case without any emotions.
Well?  Just imagine…It is enough to shout at the children or quarrel with the neighbor – and the dull home duties will fly almost unnoticed. Because your mind will be turned off at that time for other emotions.
Since there will be no worse already, try to make use of your negative emotions and set to the work, put off before.
Of course, it is not very pleasant to run into scandals. But you should remember: it is very bad to live and work without emotions at all.
The folk wisdom has formulated this psychological observation by a very short but full of sense folk proverb: BETTER WORSE, BUT DIFFERENTLY.
It is paradoxical and even cruel, but such are the laws of human psychology.

HOW MUCH TIME IS ALLOTTED TO US?
It is not known to anybody. And there is no need to know it. Wise but blind fortune has given to somebody long but tiresome life and to somebody – short but bright life. And those, who can live full-blooded, purposefully and joyfully, in the limit of today’s time, without thinking of the inevitable end, are really brave and wise. May be, because they know that there is no end, life is endless, as the time. There is no end, there is a relay-race.
Anyhow, here is the main life law of man’s relations with the time:  BOTH TIME AND MONEY ARE NEVER ENOUGH.
Fortune allotted to each of us time and money not in equal parts. In any case, let us treat this gift of life with gratitude. For each of us the day and night contain 24 hours, and here we are all equal.  And it is only necessary to handle these 24 hours in the best possible way. And it is also important to remember that EACH OF US FULLY POSSESES ALL HIS OWN TIME.
Time is the main value of our life. But unlike other values, it is impossible to save, multiply, pass on to ancestors... No one yet invented the Saving Bank of Time. But since it all the same flies, one can’t but spend it. How then to spend it usefully? And where is the use? It is the eternal question.
We all put up with the thought that life is endless. But for us it is limited. And this limited number of years must be used fruitfully: one must build the house, plant the trees, bring up children, earn one’s living, make important discoveries, write the books, see the world. And at the same time keep up household, family relations, etc. ..
How to manage all that?
Many people did. And we must, if to use this valuable time capital, allotted to us, cleverly, without wasting it. Sometimes we don’t notice these losses. And repeat our mistakes again and again.

HASTE IS THE CONDEMNATION OF OUR TIME
Almost everything bad, occurring in our life, is the result of the time shortage or haste. Because haste is the commonest  kind of stress, devouring our health and energy.
Suppose you again are short of tine, late for the important appointment. You rush down the staircase, you are waiting impatiently on the bus stop, then you are nervous because the bus moves too slow. You are desperate, when you get into the jam. You run across the road, running a risk to get under the wheels, and your heart is beating, ready to jump out…
But the heart is a compact biological pump, meant for a definite number of contractions. It has its own resource, and the oftener you load your heart in such a way, the sooner this resource will be exhausted.
Don’t do it.
SOME RULES HOW TO RID OF HASTE
If it is possible, don’t make appointments in the city or transport. It is better to meet at home, in the office, in the shop.  Then some 15-20 minutes earlier or later won’t seem such a tragedy. Don’t bind your time to strict minutes. In the conditions of a big city it is unreal.  But minutes in our time have a tendency to press and produce the impression of a catastrophe, when you hurry and all the same are late. In this case they seem unbearably long, endless and also cause the stress, when you have to wait for somebody, who, being late for the meeting with you, is also fighting with the excruciating haste stress.
The French say: ”When you make somebody wait, he begins to recollect all your sins”.
So, there is one more time law: ONE, WHO IS ALWAYS IN A HURRY, IS AKWAYS LATE.

!

TO SAY “I AM SHORT OF TIME” IS IMPROPER
Rollan Bikov, a wonderful producer and a public figure, once said very accurately: “A MAN WHO SAYS THAT HAS NO TIME, IS NOT AN INTELLECTUAL”. When you tell somebody, who asks you for the meeting, favor, business help, that you are short of time, – it doesn’t mean that you approve of yourself. Vice versa, saying so, you tell, facing him, that you have more important affairs, than spending time on his person.
CAN ONE RESPECT YOU AFTER THAT?
The state “shortage of time” is a double-edged sward. When you are “over head and ears” in business affairs and have no time to meet with the relatives and friends, they can’t be happy because of it. And your sub conscience will obligingly prompt you that your friends turned away from you. And if you persist in this way, it will really happen. It will be one more motive for the negative emotions.
One more way to get a heavy stress –– to take too much load upon yourself at work or at home.  Then you won’t have time for the family. Children are especially hurt, when you shout:  “Leave me alone, I am short of time!” Is it worth while to change the communion with the children for your affairs? Then the moment may happen, when you suddenly feel yourself in isolation, lonely and unhappy.
Haste in time, constant tension deforms the psychic.
WHY DO YOU NEED IT?
Remember the just words of German thinker Lihtenberg:  “People, who are constantly short of time, usually do nothing”.
Have it as a rule: NEVER SAY “I AM SHORT OF TIME”.
Anton Pavlovich Chekov added to this discussion about the time a very paradoxical but exact observation:  “If you wish to have little time, do nothing”.

Don’t make haste for nothing
Once there was a point of view of one of the biologists in the press that any organism – be it an ant or an elephant – is programmed by nature for the same number of movements. And it has the final recourse (as well as the number of our heart contractions). Save these movements only for the good and useful affairs.
As a matter of fact, this recourse can be extended on account of a healthy way of life, wise behavior and positive emotions. There are many examples in history of a fruitful creative long life. Since creative activity is one of the most positive emotions in this world.

How to make 24 hours longer
Yes, these are your own 24 hours, allotted to you every day by your life, and you are free to use them in your own way.  You may be idle or you may prolong them up to 25. But not working more, than you usually do. Then the improper words “! am short of time” will turn up and all unpleasant consequences, resulting from it
Specialists in the scientific work organization, ”effective time usage” invented many wiles in handling time for the administrators and production. But we, too, are administrators in our activity. Let us see what they have invented for us.
REST MORE OFTEN
When Frederic Tailor created his system of scientific work organization, he worked as an engineer in a steel cast company. Workers under his control loaded on the lorries 12,5 tons cast iron per day each. They were unable to work longer. By the middle of the day they almost fell from tiredness. Tailor analyzed their actions and calculated that they could load 4 times more without being tired.
To prove his point he proposed one of the workers to work with the chronometric, who all the time watched the stopwatch and commanded: “Now lift the bar and go…And now sit down and have a rest…Now go…Now have a rest”. As a result, this worker has loaded 47 tons of cast iron, that is 4 times more, which Tailor had expected, taking into account that this worker was less tired than others, who almost exhausted, loaded, as usual, 12,5 tons.
The secret consisted in his having a regular rest before he was getting tired. According to Tailor, he worked approximately 26 minutes every hour and rested 34 minutes. One might say, was being idle, but how useful
NATURE DICOVERY
In fact, this work scheme has been invented not by Tailor.  Nature itself has done it long ago. It is enough to listen to the way our heart works. During day and night it distills along the blood vessels so much blood, that it was possible to fill with it the whole tanker. This little living pump is doing such an unbelievable amount of work during many tens of years every day without the interval.
But physiologists began doubting this.  The measurements showed that after every compression our heart, cleverly designed by nature, has a rest. Thus, by the pulse 70 heartbeats the heart works only 9 hours out 24. And the rest 15 hours it has a rest. Such a prolong time is made up from short but frequent intervals, unnoticed by us. How wise it is!

TO FIND TIME WHERE IT SEEMS TO BE ABSENT
Professor A.A. Lyubishchev, biologist, mathematician, historian, philosopher, geneticist, zoologist, specialist in literature, in his book “This odd life” advised the readers to adhere to the secret of subordinating the flow of time to themselves.
Being In the Crimea in his youth, he paid attention to the Greek women, who span and simultaneously wove. I t gave him impulse to the idea to use in life every minute, the so called “trash’ of time: trips in the transport, sittings, queues…
In travels he read books, learned languages. But this “trash” was also not enough for him… And then he has worked out a special system of communication with time. It was a system of time record, a sort of reverence for time, respect to each of its minute
Besides this communion with Time, Lyubishchev kept to some rules:
1. Not to have any mandatory orders;
2. Not to take urgent orders;
3. In case of getting tired, immediately stop working and have a rest;
4. To sleep much, not less than 8 hours;
5. To combine tiresome affairs with the pleasant ones.
Lyubishchev never complained of the shortage of time. He, in fact, had more time, than others.

DON’T PUT OFF LIFE FOR THE FUTURE,
LIVE TODAY!
You have chance to attend the interesting concert, meeting with a wonderful man, go to the fairy ball… But you have NO TIME. Quite urgent business.
One might say absolutely accurately what will take place later. Much time will pass, and the event, in which you refused to participate, will remain in history. You will remember the whole life that could take part in it.
 And remember the whole life, why you have refused from it. And will never be able to recollect. It was too shallow reason. DON’T NIGGLE!
Из книги Н. П. Коноплевой «1000 полезных советов для дома и семьи», Харьков, 2000