Reverse Dream Heist
I’ve always been fascinated by time.
More specifically, I’m fascinated by how we experience time. An hour is always made up of 60 minutes, but an hour standing in line at the DMV is definitely longer than an hour of Breaking Bad.
It’s one of the things I enjoy most about the movies of Christopher Nolan. A signature feature of many Nolan films—Memento, Interstellar, Dunkirk, and Tenet, to name a few—is his use of non-linear storytelling. The guy loves time.
Take Inception, for example. The plot of Inception involves Leonardo DiCaprio executing a reverse dream heist by descending through multiple levels of the subconscious, with each layer warping time more than the last, so that one hour in the real world eventually stretches into weeks, months, and even years in the dream world, ultimately resulting in the pivotal rerouting of a major corporation’s business structure and the reunion of a legally troubled father with his kids. (Seriously, what’s so confusing about that?)
I think Christopher Nolan was onto something. Okay, I might not be in danger of having my mind raided by Leonardo DiCaprio. But I’ve certainly been lured away from responsibility by seemingly harmless distractions only to feel the harsh reality of time slipping through my fingers.
Have you ever experienced this? You sit down at nine to finish a report, take a quick peek at your phone to see how the Bears are doing in free agency, and when you look back at your laptop, it’s half past twelve. Or you tell yourself you’ll use your off day to catch up on that project, but by the time you’re watching Steph torch the Magic, you realize you haven’t even started.
Time moves faster in the world of distraction.
Inception calls this “limbo.” I call it “annoying.”
Slowing down requires intentionality. Here are three ways to start.
Dumb down your smartphone. The research is astonishing: smartphones are time annihilators. In 2025, the average adult spends around four hours a day on their phone. Teens spend up to eight. Transform your phone from a distraction into a utility and watch time warp back in your favor.
Shorten your deadlines. There’s an idea known as Parkinson’s Law that suggests that work expands to fill the time available for its completion. In other words, an assignment due Friday will often take us all week, even if we can finish it in two days. Instead, give yourself a new deadline. Tell yourself—or better yet, tell a friend—that you’ll get it done by Tuesday. A healthy sense of urgency works wonders.
Create a time-bound system. James Clear, author of Atomic Habits, argues that many people think they lack motivation when what they really lack is clarity. When creating a goal—or a system, as Clear prefers—it’s essential to clearly define where and when it will be achieved. For example, instead of saying, “I’ll work on my report this weekend,” say, “I’ll work on my report Saturday morning from 9-10 a.m. at the kitchen table.”
Time never runs backwards. But it doesn’t have to run this fast.
Let’s find that extra hour.
