Frankly, I trust proven competent historical figures far more than I trust today’s gurus on self-development. Before adopting any advice, I want to see that it has worked for different people across the centuries. I want to see lots of evidence in favour.
Seneca (4 BC-65 AD) gained significant insights about time management and his followers have applied those insights with good success. I’m talking about twenty centuries of experience, not about a flash in the pan. That’s why I think that we should pay attention to what Seneca said about time management.
I am going to summarize Seneca’s recommendations in this area, in a way that they are formulated in universal, perennial terms. I hope that readers can find them useful to some extent:
Seneca’s warning against being too busy
Seneca warned us repeatedly against being too busy. On the one hand, he meant that we should not pursue contradictory goals. If we try to go north and south at the same time, we are not going to make a lot of progress.
On the other hand, Seneca called for an effective, rational employment of resources. For instance, individuals in Ancient Rome had to economise on paper (papyrus) because it entailed considerable costs and was not readily available.
That’s one of the reasons why Ancient Rome generated a relatively small number of authors. For most of the population, it was unaffordable to purchase papyrus or equivalent materials for writing.
Nowadays, paper is cheap, but other resources remain very expensive. I mean housing and parking spaces in city centres, biological and organic food that is not locally produced, study fees in leading universities, just to name a few examples.
For the individual, time remains the most scarce, expensive resource because it cannot be replenished. When our lifespan is over, we cannot extend it at any price.
If we want to make the best use of our time, Seneca advises us to be parsimonious and steer away from irrational expenses. In this respect, I endorse Seneca’s criticism of Cicero (106-43 BC) as a prime example of ineffectiveness.
Cicero wrote a few good books, but wasted years of his life in all kinds of political intrigues for pure self-aggrandizement. I attribute Cicero’s exorbitant activity to his swollen ambitions, but what did he achieve as a result of making so much noise?
Very little or nothing, I would say. If Cicero had focused on his literary goals, he might have written half a dozen additional books. I wish he would have done so.
Seneca’s dialogue “On the Shortness of Life” criticises in a sharp manner Cicero’s exaggerated, unfocused ambitions. This lesson is hard to learn because we humans tend to overestimate our life expectancy, and underestimate the benefits of focused, consistent action.
Seneca: philosophy enables better time management
Seneca encourages us to study philosophy because it can help us make the best of our days. Philosophically confusion is a major obstacle to productivity and achievement. If our minds are in turmoil, how are we supposed to steer our actions in the right direction?
In the absence of philosophical consistency, even intelligent people will perform poorly. Why? Because they will be unable to tell important things from worthless pursuits. Even if those individuals work intensely, the results may prove disappointing and counterproductive.
In the dialogue “On the Shortness of Life,” Seneca mentions the sophist Isocrates (436-338 BC), who had attained celebrity in Ancient Athens after devoting decades to teaching rhetoric. I find Seneca’s criticism applicable to all secondary areas in our lives.
Was it really worth it for Isocrates to devote decades to the art of debating (rhetoric)? Similarly, is it worth it for people in our century to devote hours on end to watching television?
The problem is that we cannot answer those questions if we lack a sound philosophy. Isocrates must have found it good to devote his energy to rhetoric, year after year; and people today find it good to watch television shows for hours on end, but are they using their time effectively?
Seneca: stop trying to justify wasteful activities
Seneca also warns us against spurious justifications for waiting our time. As humans, we are able to think rationally in spite of external pressures. We should not argue systematically that we have no choice, or that we did not know any better, or that we have run out of alternatives.
There are thousands of ways to earn a living, but only a few of them will match our individual talents. There are thousands of television shows to watch, but how many of them contribute to our well-being, motivation and peace of mind?
Let’s discard all spurious justifications for our actions. If we have decided to take job A, we shouldn’t justify our decision by the sheer lack of better opportunities. We should not ignore the fact that, each year, millions of people move to other cities or countries in search of better opportunities.
The same principle applies to watching television, playing video-games, playing cards, watching sports, and a myriad of other activities, no matter how enjoyable. Let’s review our use of time to see if we are making good choices.
In his dialogue “On the Shortness of Life,” Seneca is telling us that Pythagoras (570-495 BC) considered regular meditation as a prerequisite for using one’s time effectively. “Meditation” in this context just means “silent reflection,” devoid of any supernatural connotations.
Seneca: use reason, not emotions, to plan your day
Seneca equally warns us against allowing our emotions to control our use of time. As tools of cognition, emotions are unreliable; and as decision methods, they can prove lethal.
Am I exaggerating? I do not think so because history gives us too many examples of individuals who ruined their lives as a result of allowing their emotions to shape their decisions.
In his 9th Letter to Lucilius, Seneca mentions how Cato the Younger (95-BC) committed suicide, Pompey the Great (106- 48 BC) died young, and Julius Caesar (100-44 BC) succumbed to an assassination plot.
I agree that those three men could have employed their time better if they had kept a cool head. In retrospect, it is clear that they made grievous mistakes because of excessive pessimism, excessive optimism, or overall lack of realism.
The question is whether we can do better than them. I think so because we have access to wider and broader information. If we push ourselves to focus on worthy goals and information, it should be within our reach to make tangible improvements.
If you are interested in putting rational ideas into practice in all kinds of situations, I recommend my book “The philosophy of builders.”
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