Primal Primer 14 (Mentality)
Ancient sapiens developed various methods for marking time’s passing and organizing life amongst antiquity’s chaos. Without clock or calendar, their using of natural cues and observations made time tracking from season to celestial cycle a strong strategy.
Daylight Cycles – Observing the sun’s movement across sky and establishing patterns of shadow helped in tracking time during daylight hours; allowing better planning of hunting, gathering, and avoiding dangerous nighttime predators.
Lunar Cycles – Phases from new moon to full moon provide an easy way to track intermediate periods of time. Intuiting the 29.5 day moon cycle (modern month) helps mark important events for initiating hunting, gathering, planting, and harvesting.
Seasonal / Celestial Events – Temperature changes corresponding with season guided hunting and gathering activities. Knowing solstices and equinoxes (many global proto megalithic structures mark these) provides additional depths for predicting longer and shorter days; important for planning and organizing effort.
Animal Patterns – Migration, mating, and hibernation patterns are all markers of time; especially important when hunt planning and shifting resource acquisition to gathering / planting / harvesting modalities.
Today, we are chronically lost and distracted from time. We don’t know how much we have, the amount we waste, and where it is invested. No longer do we attend to ancient cues, but instead are drawn to action by alarms, reminders, and consumption patterns of haphazard navigation.
Are You Wasting Time?
Time is on your side if you can account for it. Time management is an ancient form of accounting; requiring ledger in conceptualizing bottom line flow. From identifying time use, one can construct maps of management and better seal against unintentional leakage. Time commuting or doing chores are often non-negotiable regular obstacles of life. However, time spent on phone scrolling or being coerced into product and content consumption add up. The theft of time is often perpetrated by those without boundary, where poor planning makes their emergencies yours. Optimization always starts with measurement and careful allocation.
~Cave Implementation~
Utilize your phone’s screen time measures to metric mobile apps and social media usage; establishing baselines through measurement will facilitate management and better redistribution. Objective truths of time wasted are hard to ignore; especially when considering the potential impact of time well spent.
Assuming we invest most of our time in non-negotiable work hours, analyze this time thoroughly and sharpen management habits. The following heuristics will make you better at your job, finding your next job, and possibly ignite departure to full time L.U.P. work.
Prioritize with Power – Tackle the hardest tasks first when your energy is at its peak. Be singular in focus: one task at a time, with no multitasking. Prioritize what truly matters to maximize efficiency and impact.
Focus Fiercely – Eliminate distractions: turn off notifications, silence your phone, and block interruptions. Schedule work blocks with clear intent—protect this time and stay fully present in the task at hand for deeper, faster progress.
Path with Purpose – Follow a logical, linear path for task completion when possible. Take small, measurable steps to maintain momentum and efficiency. Align your actions with your goals to feel more “in time” rather than pulled by it.
P.F.P. Encourages Prioritization, Focus, & Following A Clear Path, Helping Master Time Management With Clarity & Purpose.
