{"id":10,"date":"2010-06-24T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2010-06-24T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/practicalspirituality\/2010\/06\/four-types-of-time-a-new-way-to-look-at-time-management.html"},"modified":"2010-06-24T10:00:00","modified_gmt":"2010-06-24T10:00:00","slug":"four-types-of-time-a-new-way-to-look-at-time-management","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/2010\/06\/four-types-of-time-a-new-way-to-look-at-time-management.html","title":{"rendered":"Four Types of Time: A New Way To Look At Time Management"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Make<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Over the years of working to help people reduce stress and
\nimbalance in daily life, I have come to see very clearly that time is one of
\nthe most common factors. Too often people place their attention on stress
\n“management” and realizing their dreams. The problem I see is that if you don’t
\nre-evaluate your relationship to time, you like will never achieve the fulfillment
\nand resilience you desire and deserve.<\/p>\n

You can be doing all the right things  <\/span>and even have the right intentions, but if you
\ncram too much into a day, work too much or misuse your time, you are likely to
\nend up stuck or depleted.<\/p>\n

Consider this: there are 4 main types of time, work time, play
\ntime, sacred time and natural time. A healthy life needs a dose of each, every
\nday – and larger doses of each over the course of a week. Take a moment to
\nreview the definition of each of these four types of time and then ask yourself
\nthese simple questions: do I have enough of each in my life everyday? every
\nweek? Or have I lost some of these times altogether?<\/p>\n

Work Time is
\nproductive time.<\/u><\/b> It’s the time to be active, to build, to clean, to
\nmake, to spend energy for production of results and goals. For most of us this
\nmeans our careers and occupations. But work can include busy work around the
\nhouse or work you do to help family and friends. The defining feature of work
\ntime is that its goal is to produce tangible results.<\/p>\n

Play Time is
\nrecreation time.<\/u><\/b> It’s the time to be creative, sensual, playful,
\nexploring, enjoying, and entertained. The goal of play time is the experience
\nof fun and joyful engagement. Play time is self-fulfilling, it’s not about
\ngoals or results, and winners and losers are ultimately inconsequential. True
\nplay time helps us to feel re-created. Ideally play time is engaged – watching
\ntelevision is not a great example of play time. Playing a sport, painting,
\nreading, talking and laughing <\/i>with
\nfriends, having sex and going to an art gallery could all be play time options
\n(as long as you enjoy yourself).<\/p>\n

Natural Time is
\nreceptive time. <\/u><\/b> <\/span>Natural time is
\nquite specifically restful or restorative time spent with nature. This could be
\nin a park, in a garden, or a backyard. Natural time could include meditating on
\na cloud or sitting under a tree. Natural time also includes time with animals,
\ndogs, cats, horses, and intentional time spent with other domesticated
\ncreatures are common ways to get some Natural time. The key to true natural
\ntime is being in a receptive mode where you are open to listen, watch and learn
\nfrom what laws of nature and the experience of wilderness have to teach.
\nScientists have shown beyond a doubt that human health is approved when we
\nspend regular time in nature (a great book on this topic is Last Child in the Woods<\/a><\/i>).<\/p>\n

Sacred Time is
\nintuitive time. <\/u> <\/span><\/b> <\/span>There can be many ways to define Sacred time –
\ntime in church, time in prayer, time doing yoga, time in silence, or even a
\ntime that emerges during natural time. What is essential to sacred time is the
\nintuitive dimension. Sacred time is about listening deeply to your heart, to know
\nwhat your spirit needs. Sacred time is about listening to a higher wisdom or
\npower for guidance. It is not about figuring something out, creating something
\nor making something happening. Sacred time is about hearing the still small
\nvoice within. All other types of time can turn into sacred time, but for true
\nhealth we need to set aside a little sacred time every day, and find a large
\nspace of sacred time every week.<\/p>\n

As a general guiding rule for optimum health, try to create
\nthe space in your life everyday<\/u> for at least<\/u>:<\/p>\n

5 minutes of sacred time<\/p>\n

10 minutes of natural time<\/p>\n

30 minutes of play time.<\/p>\n

2 hours of work time.<\/p>\n

Over the course of a week<\/u> you should ensure that at
\nsome point you have at least<\/u>:<\/p>\n

1 full hour of sacred time<\/p>\n

2 full hours of play time<\/p>\n

1 full hour of natural time<\/p>\n

A total of 14 hours of work time.<\/p>\n

Naturally, most of us spend way over the minimum time
\nsuggested in one or more area of our life (like work). The significant thing
\nyou will see by looking at time this way is just how little time you spend on
\nthree quarters of what makes a person resilient and healthy. How will you
\nmanage your time now? If you knew that these four times were essential to your
\nhealth, vitality and longevity what would you have to change?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Over the years of working to help people reduce stress and imbalance in daily life, I have come to see very clearly that time is one of the most common factors. Too often people place their attention on stress “management” and realizing their dreams. The problem I see is that if you don’t re-evaluate your…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,8],"tags":[71,18,24,65,29,30],"class_list":["post-10","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-balance","category-stress-management","tag-balance","tag-jonathan-ellerby","tag-nature","tag-stress-management","tag-time","tag-time-management"],"yoast_head":"\nFour Types of Time: A New Way To Look At Time Management - Practical Spirituality<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/2010\/06\/four-types-of-time-a-new-way-to-look-at-time-management.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Four Types of Time: A New Way To Look At Time Management - Practical Spirituality\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Over the years of working to help people reduce stress and imbalance in daily life, I have come to see very clearly that time is one of the most common factors. 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