Table of contents for The Power of Time 2025 in Real Simple

FOR JUST ABOUT EVERY MOMENT of our adult lives, we’re acutely aware of time—how we can maximize it, savor it, finagle more of it by multitasking. But during the pandemic, time got … weird. It stretched into eternity, like one Groundhog Day looped into another. It sped forward, and we forgot what life was like in the Great Before. It flattened as our lives turned into scheduleless, sometimes showerless limbo. And once time stopped meaning anything, we realized it meant everything. Even now, postpandemic, many of us feel that there are parts of our pre-Covid lives we want to give up forever: crazy commutes, PTA meetings held at the most inconvenient times, the endless checklists that once made us feel “productive.” The fact that our time is limited can be…

MY YOGA TEACHER, WHO IS 23 and beautiful like a song and who told me one day that she had gone into the yoga arts because the acting business made her feel like she was “being eaten alive,” stands over our inert bodies, and this is what she says: “We are slaves to the noise in our heads.” Then she says, “Leave your thoughts at the door. You can pick them up on your way out.” She says this twice over a full 10 minutes of a 60-minute class that could be spent exercising but is instead spent lying on the floor. She says it in addition to the six-minute speech she gave before class and the three-minute period of rest she’ll give us after class, at which point we’ll get…

IS IT ANY WONDER that deadlines fill us with anxiety and panic? “Dead” is right there in the word. Maybe you’re prepping for an important client presentation or planning a 3-year-old’s birthday party—the stakes may be wildly different, but the stress is all the same. Inevitably you’re going to hear that ticking clock in your head, along with a familiar, unwelcome refrain: “There’s no way I’m going to get this done on time!” Deadlines are locked arm in arm with fear of failure, twirling about in the worst mental-health two-step dance ever choreographed. And here’s the really diabolical part: Even when on paper we do actually have plenty of time to complete a project, our brains trick us into thinking we don’t. In a study published in Psychological Science,…

“Courage Is the Choice to Leap” When you’re taking a big leap into the life you desire, you’re allowed to be scared. Courage is about being afraid and choosing to leap anyway, nerves and all. In moments of fear, psych yourself up with soothing self-talk: “I am doing a good job. Tiny steps add up, and one day at a time, I face what I need to face.” CHRISTINE GUTIERREZ, PSYCHOTHERAPIST AND AUTHOR OF I AM DIOSA: A JOURNEY TO HEALING DEEP, LOVING YOURSELF, AND COMING BACK HOME TO SOUL “Give It Five Minutes” Doing something is almost always better than doing nothing. If it seems impossible to take action, follow the five-minute rule: Set a timer and do a task for just five minutes, whether it’s weeding the…

Miso Noodle Soup ACTIVE TIME 15 MINUTES TOTAL TIME 15 MINUTES SERVES 4 Quick Cooking One Pot Vegan 8 cups water or vegetable stock (or dashi, preferably, if you have it) ½ cup white miso paste2 Tbsp. soy sauce2 cups spinach14 oz. firm tofu8 oz. ramen noodles (rice, egg, or wheat noodles also work)Kosher salt (optional)5 grams dried seaweed snacks, sliced (about ½ cup)Thinly sliced scallions, for topping (optional) PLACE water, stock, or dashi in a pot over high. Whisk in miso paste and soy sauce. While waiting for broth to come up to a boil, chop spinach and cut tofu into small cubes. WHEN broth is at a boil, turn heat down slightly and add noodles. Cook for around 3 minutes or according to package directions. Stir in…

Three Great Short Story Collections and One Searing Novella Selected by Julia Dahl, author of five novels, including the recent thriller I Dreamed of Falling. Close Range: Wyoming Stories by Annie Proulx “Proulx is best known for the novel Brokeback Mountain, which became an Oscar-winning film. This collection is full of characters and places that embody the same themes: longing, loneliness, and the redemptive power of love.” Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri “I was completely transported by this richly observed book of stories that spans the globe, touching on domesticity, the immigrant experience, and family ties.” Best American Mystery and Suspense Stories edited by Steph Cha “If you’re a fan of the dark stuff like I am, the annual Best American Mystery and Suspense Stories series is essential reading—especially…

TIME SEEMS TO PLAY tricks on us. A happy afternoon doing something enjoyable—going on a hike, meeting a friend for coffee, getting a spa treatment—feels like it’s over in a blink, while spending 10 minutes on hold with the cable company takes eons. It turns out our perception of time is constantly changing, influenced by what we’re doing, who we’re with, and even what we see. But let’s back up for a second. While time can be measured by the hands on the clock (or the numbers on our smartphone), our perception of it is something else entirely. “Everybody’s sense of time compresses and dilates like a rubber band throughout the day,” says Martin Wiener, PhD, a cognitive and behavioral neuroscientist and an associate professor at George Mason University…

Boost Your Home’s Curb Appeal Because the outside should reflect how lovely it is inside! Start with these quick-ish tasks. PAINT THE FRONT DOOR PICK YOUR COLOR “The front door is a great spot for something bold because it’s easy and inexpensive to update,” says Mika Kleinschmidt, a real estate agent and cohost of HGTV’s 100 Day Dream Home. Look to your landscaping for inspiration—the nearby foliage might give you some ideas. Also think about the architecture: Midcentury homes can pull off a bright turquoise or yellow, pastels look great on cottages, and reds or blues are classic on a Victorian. (Hannah Yeo, senior manager of color marketing and development at Benjamin Moore, shares her favorite shades for any kind of house at right.) Once you’ve narrowed it down, buy…

INVESTING IN YOUR health takes time. That’s true. But there are still plenty of things you can do to enhance your overall health—or even just your mood—when you only have minutes to spare. “People often think they have to do this dramatic overhaul overnight and tug the rug underneath themselves,” says LJ Amaral, RD, a clinical research registered dietician in oncology at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles. “But the small, simple approach is actually the best way to make a dramatic change in your life.” Ready to give it a whirl? Here are six simple strategies to squeeze into your day. Start Your Morning With Box Breathing Most of us breathe in and out all day without even thinking about it. But paying attention to your breath—and extending your inhales…

IF YOUR MORNINGS are mayhem, and “breakfast” is often a grabbed granola bar, steal a dinner strategy and do some meal prep. Just a few minutes on the weekend will give you a head start for healthy breakfasts all week. “Breakfasts are often all carbs and no fat or protein,” says Marisa Moore, RDN, author of the cookbook The Plant Love Kitchen. “While I love a good carby meal, without a balance of nutrients, you might be hungry before you get through your first meeting.” Each of these options takes less than five minutes of prep in the morning and will carry you to lunchtime. Smoothie Packs While a smoothie may seem fast, you lose precious time riffling through the freezer for fruit, the pantry for healthy seeds, and…

WHEN WE THINK OF adventure, we probably imagine daring feats, faraway places, and fearless people who aren’t saddled with desk jobs. Maybe someone like Isabella Bird, the Victorian-era explorer who climbed the Mauna Loa volcano in Hawaii and slept in a tent in Tibet on a carpet made of yak hair. But in fact, every one of us is wired to seek new experiences—even those of us with lower back pain ill-suited for tent living. It started with our ancestors, who used novelty for survival—scanning the horizon enabled them to spot snarling beasts and other threats. To this day, discovery rewards us with a burst of the feel-good chemical dopamine. (Even lab rats will linger in unfamiliar tunnels.) And research has found that novelty can enhance our memory, increase…