This week, I had an interesting experience with social media. WhatsApp Status is a feature on the messaging app that allows users to post temporary updates that disappear after 24 hours, visible only to their contacts. I went fishing for tips on mastering the art of utilizing time by posting a question on my WhatsApp Status: What tips have worked for you to master the art of utilizing your time properly?
As friends and family responded to me privately, I posted screenshots of the responses to my WhatsApp Status, and it blossomed into a wide-ranging conversation on this topic, from practical tips to in-depth analyses on why many struggle managing their time. From the many massages I received throughout the week in reaction to this slow-motion, completely anonymous conversation, I learned that even very successful people struggle with mastering their time, and that time is a commodity everyone wishes they utilized better. I found it providential that the day I started this conversation had a unique relation to the topic. In 1943, the Rebbe published a special calendar with short Chassidic teachings, anecdotes, or customs for each day of the year called Hayom Yom. Here is the entry for this past Tuesday, the first day of Iyar: At a chassidic gathering during the period of Sefirat HaOmer, in the 1890s with the fifth Chabad Rebbe, Rabbi Shalom Dov Ber Schneerson, known as the Rebbe Rashab, someone said: "The students of the Alter Rebbe (the founder of Chabad) were always keeping count." The Rebbe Rashab commented: "That idea characterizes man's divine service. The hours must be 'counted hours,' then the days will be 'counted days.' When a day passes, one should know what he has accomplished and what remains yet to be done... In general, one should always see to it that tomorrow should be much better than today." Starting from the second day of Pesach, we are instructed to count 49 days, or seven weeks, and celebrate the 50th day as the holiday of Shavuot. This 49-day counting period, called Sefirat HaOmer, is not the only context in which Jews count. We count six days of the week and rest on the seventh. When living in Israel, we count six years of agricultural work and observe the seventh as a Sabbatical year without working the fields. However, Sefirat HaOmer is unique in that it requires every individual to make a blessing and intentionally count the days, and every individual keeps track of their own count. Whereas Shabbat happens for everyone the same, with Sefirat HaOmer there are scenarios where someone may be on a different counting schedule than the rest, and even celebrate Shavuot on a different day! Crossing the international date line during this period can complicate Shavuot observance. Read more about this here and here. My weeklong conversation about time management helped me appreciate the correlation between “counting the hours and days” of life and the unique style of the counting we do with Sefirat HaOmer. Everyone must do it, but everyone must do it in their unique way. There is no one-size-fits-all formula for mastering time, because time is extremely personal. Although I went fishing for practical tips - and still need to decide which tips work for me - I reeled in much more than that. The appreciation that time is the most individual and personal treasure I have, and every moment G-d grants me is mine to fill in ways no one else can. I’d love to hear what has worked for you to master the art of best utilizing your time. Thank you in advance!