Why can’t we make time go faster?
Posted early 2010
I was talking on the phone with my sister while she was driving my nephew to an appointment. He’s about six. I won’t tell you how old she was. He kept interrupting, asking how much longer it would be. Finally, he said something that stopped me:
“Why can’t we make time go faster?”
After we hung up, I realized I hadn’t really answered his question. Most adults might say, “Because,” or “We can’t.” But I wish I had told him that there is a way to control how time feels — and it’s simpler than most people think.
The problem is that time works backward. If you try to make it go faster, it slows down. If you try to slow it down, it speeds up.
Remember the old saying: a watched pot never boils.
That was not an easy lesson for me to learn. In school, I would sit down to take a test and rush through it, constantly checking the clock in a race to finish before time ran out. Most of the time, I lost that race.
Then one day I tried something new — a kind of meditation exercise, though I didn’t know the word “mantra” back then. When the teacher said we could begin, I took a deep breath and silently said to myself three times, “Slow down.”
After each question, I paused, breathed, and repeated it again. I left my watch at home and didn’t look at the clock until I was done. To my surprise, not only did I finish ten minutes early, but I was the first person in the room to turn in the test. My grade: an “A.”
I’ve used that technique ever since — not just on exams, but throughout my life: at work, while cooking, gardening, driving, writing, sleeping, and yes… even in bed.
The reason most people don’t realize that time works backward is that they’ve never taken the time to consider how it works. Einstein told us that space is flat until you add mass to it — then it curves, and that curve is time.
So dealing with time is like walking down a hill. Sounds easy, right? But try running downhill on rough terrain with no place to rest — not so easy then.
Most experienced backpackers will tell you that going uphill is actually easier than going down, because uphill you have more control. The same is true of time. If you rush through it, you’re likely to stumble. If you slow down and take control, you’ll get where you’re going sooner, safer, and with fewer mistakes.
Meditation and mantras are simply ways of training the mind — tools for focus, not religion. Sadly, some people dismiss them as mystical or strange, but they’re really just methods for exercising mental control. If you happen to reach spiritual awakening along the way, consider that a bonus.
Why would you want to control the mind? First, because when you control the mind, you control time. Second, because the mind isn’t truly who you are — it’s a tool you can learn to use.
René Descartes said, “I think, therefore I am.” But do we really control what we think? Try an experiment: pick a single word and focus on it for five minutes without letting any other thought intrude. Most people can’t. But with meditation, you can — for as long as you choose. The mind is like a mirror; you can’t stop it from reflecting, but you can decide what image it shows.
A mantra is the phrase you use to bring that focus back. It’s a gentle tap on the shoulder to remind your mind what it should be doing. My first mantra was “Slow down.” Over the years, I’ve found one that fits me better: “My God and My Love.” The more I use it, the better it works.
Once you’ve chosen your mantra, use it anytime your thoughts begin to wander — waiting at a stoplight, before a meeting, while trying to fall asleep, or lying on a gurney before a medical test. It works especially well when you wish time would move faster.
Because that’s the secret my nephew was really asking about: you can make time go faster — by learning to slow down.
—Odell
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