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The Tao of Time
Presents a program of time management that provides a six-week deceleration program based on Taoist principles to help slow down, ease stress, and change one's way of dealing with time
253 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1990
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
December 16, 2018
Valuable Alternative Perspective to Western Ideas About Time
This is a fascinating book which basically denies the validity of Western, clock-driven concepts of time. Its authors teach internally-driven time-keeping habits based on the Eastern principles of Taoism. Taoism can be viewed as a philosophy or religion: it is holistic, a defining set of practices and beliefs to govern a practitioner’s actions and values. The authors gradually expand their mission from helping someone gain an innate sense of time for immediate projects to helping someone gain confidence in deciding the value of an action in relation to his/her life’s goals. That help is generous and compassionate, and other authors also help their readers consider these larger questions, for example David Allen with his Getting Things Done system.
I had a very mixed reaction to this book. On the one hand, I agree that learning how to listen to one’s inner voices, about one’s sense of time, one’s immediate capability to do a certain task, one’s motivation to do any particular task, take any particular pathway, is extremely valuable. I also thought that Ms. Hunt and Ms. Hait did an excellent job of introducing the exercises and concepts their readers need to explore to successfully transition to an internally-based mastery of time.
My qualm with this book comes from a very subtle flaw in its logic. Many of the case studies this book cites come from people who evidently have a lot of money: families which take an entire summer to never set an alarm, an investment broker (self-made, possibly) who retired in his mid-40s, lawyers, doctors and similar. It’s not clear at all if they have housekeepers, nannies, dog walkers. I truly believe that a single mother of two working three jobs can get benefit from this book BUT I also think it’s going to be harder. No less worthwhile however.
This is a fascinating book which basically denies the validity of Western, clock-driven concepts of time. Its authors teach internally-driven time-keeping habits based on the Eastern principles of Taoism. Taoism can be viewed as a philosophy or religion: it is holistic, a defining set of practices and beliefs to govern a practitioner’s actions and values. The authors gradually expand their mission from helping someone gain an innate sense of time for immediate projects to helping someone gain confidence in deciding the value of an action in relation to his/her life’s goals. That help is generous and compassionate, and other authors also help their readers consider these larger questions, for example David Allen with his Getting Things Done system.
I had a very mixed reaction to this book. On the one hand, I agree that learning how to listen to one’s inner voices, about one’s sense of time, one’s immediate capability to do a certain task, one’s motivation to do any particular task, take any particular pathway, is extremely valuable. I also thought that Ms. Hunt and Ms. Hait did an excellent job of introducing the exercises and concepts their readers need to explore to successfully transition to an internally-based mastery of time.
My qualm with this book comes from a very subtle flaw in its logic. Many of the case studies this book cites come from people who evidently have a lot of money: families which take an entire summer to never set an alarm, an investment broker (self-made, possibly) who retired in his mid-40s, lawyers, doctors and similar. It’s not clear at all if they have housekeepers, nannies, dog walkers. I truly believe that a single mother of two working three jobs can get benefit from this book BUT I also think it’s going to be harder. No less worthwhile however.
January 11, 2026
This book was a quick, easy read. The book is basically giving guidance on how to change your views about time and time management in a way that allows you to exist in the now, as opposed to constantly stressing by trying to do do more in less time. It’s not about doing less, it is more about existing in the now, living in the now, and therefore not either worrying about the past or worrying about the future. It’s about finding what works for you as opposed to following all of the advice that’s been written over the years about how to manage time, how to structure time at work, or at home or in your day to day life. It gives many examples, as well as exercises for you to use to determine what works for you, and so that you can get your own answers. I believe it will be very useful as I implement the suggestions given. Even though the book references Taoism, it is easy to understand without any knowledge of Taoism.
January 18, 2020
A friend gave me this book after a discussion about how we let time affect us, often more than we would like. Has some good points but I ended up skimming the second half of it. Provides a program on how to focus on priorities and be in the moment, and then you will actually be more effective and productive, without wasting time on being so worried about time!
December 1, 2022
Es un libro interesante. El capítulo donde explica como ha ido cambiando la percepción del tiempo a lo largo de la historia me pareció fascinante. Hay una hermosa intención de conectar con una vida más acorde con los ritmos naturales.
Por otro lado me pareció un poco forzado el paralelismo con el Tao, por momentos incluso falto de profundidad.
Por otro lado me pareció un poco forzado el paralelismo con el Tao, por momentos incluso falto de profundidad.
February 27, 2012
"More and more, time has come to exercise a tyrannical influence over our lives. There is never enough of it, no matter how carefully or cleverly we organize and plan. As pollster Lou Harris put it ...: 'Time may have become the most precious commodity in the land.' Yet why should this be, when 'time management' has itself evolved into a veritable discipline that sells books in the millions, creates ever more ingenious 'organizers,' and promulgates any number of quick-fix solutions?
"It is the premise of this book that, in keeping with so much we are still learning from Eastern philosophies in so-called New Age theory and practice, there are no quick-fix solutions to be imposed on our lives from without -- only within ourselves can we create true inner control of time and retake charge of our lives rather than let our lives (and the tyranny of the clock) run us."
~~front flap
A well-written book, with step by step directions on how to achieve mastery of your time by immersing yourself in their "deceleration" program based on Taoist (or perhaps Confucianist) philosophy. The system sounds intriguing, and the authors promise that following this system will give you infinite control over time (as opposed to finite control, which is the land of day planners and calendars and watches that calculate nanoseconds.)
I think I would have valued the book more if I hadn't been in active resistance most of the time I was reading it. I want to have better control of my time, but like most addicts, I don't want to do anything differently in order to get it.
I think I'll read this book again, in the very near future.
"It is the premise of this book that, in keeping with so much we are still learning from Eastern philosophies in so-called New Age theory and practice, there are no quick-fix solutions to be imposed on our lives from without -- only within ourselves can we create true inner control of time and retake charge of our lives rather than let our lives (and the tyranny of the clock) run us."
~~front flap
A well-written book, with step by step directions on how to achieve mastery of your time by immersing yourself in their "deceleration" program based on Taoist (or perhaps Confucianist) philosophy. The system sounds intriguing, and the authors promise that following this system will give you infinite control over time (as opposed to finite control, which is the land of day planners and calendars and watches that calculate nanoseconds.)
I think I would have valued the book more if I hadn't been in active resistance most of the time I was reading it. I want to have better control of my time, but like most addicts, I don't want to do anything differently in order to get it.
I think I'll read this book again, in the very near future.
July 29, 2012
Couldn't finish it within the library's lending period.
March 29, 2013
A should-read book on time management which is a critical competency as you manage your career or startup.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews