Reclaiming your relationship with time
In an age of smartphones and smartwatches, this might sound like a step backward, but hear me out: get yourself a simple, old-school wristwatch.
I found mine at a flea market, which I visit every weekend in search of small miracles.
This seemingly insignificant object has become my first tangible step toward liberating myself from the colonized perception of time that dominates our modern existence.
The colonial roots of our time perception
What we rarely acknowledge is how deeply our relationship with time has been shaped by colonial and capitalist structures. Western linear time, with its rigid schedules, productivity metrics, and constant urgency wasn’t always the dominant paradigm.
Before public clocks, bells, and time laws regulated prayer and work, time was experienced as a local, cyclical practice rooted in daily ritual.
The mechanical clock itself was a tool of imperialism, as essential to colonial navigation of ships. During slavery, linear clock time was literally beaten into enslaved people as a tool of control and punishment.
The standardization of time zones came with railway expansion and industrial capitalism, legislating a relationship with time that prioritized commerce over human experience.
If you wish to find out more about those historical nuances. I highly recommend to check Black Quantum Futurism works and publications.
The Buddhist perspective on time liberation
In Buddhist philosophy, our perception of time is intimately connected to our path toward enlightenment.
The Zen tradition teaches us that true awareness comes from being fully present in each moment, something nearly impossible when our relationship with time is mediated through addictive technology.
As the Zen tea ceremony demonstrates, even simple acts can become meditation when approached with intention. Each moment contains its own completeness when we’re fully present.
By checking a wristwatch instead of a phone, you can create a small ritual of temporal awareness without the distractions that pull you away from being present in the moment.
Why a wristwatch matters
When smartphones became our all-in-one devices, they made life more convenient in many ways. However, this convenience came at a cost, as they absorbed countless functions into a single (not particularly healthy) ecosystem.
In this takeover, many perfectly functional standalone devices were pushed aside and forgotten. Like calculators, torches and wristwatches.
These modern all-in-one ecosystems are particularly clever in how they gradually taking control of different aspects of ours lives. Before you know it, you’re so deeply integrated into the system that breaking free becomes increasingly difficult.
It’s crucial to understand that modern smartphone ecosystems are deliberately designed to be addictive, engineered to keep you engaged for as long as possible - which is a capitalistic extension of colonial time control.
This is where the humble wristwatch comes in. Checking the time is one of the most basic yet frequent actions we perform throughout the day. When you check the time on your smartphone, it’s all too easy to fall into the trap of checking notifications, which inevitably leads to scrolling through an endless wall of content.
My personal experience
From personal experience, I can tell you that building the habit of checking your wrist instead of reaching for your phone takes some time. For me, it took a few days, and what really helped was going completely offline for a weekend. When I say offline, I mean truly offline: smartphone completely powered down.
Just me, myself, and my thoughts.
Of course, this required some preparation. I had to memorize my card PIN again and let friends and family know I’d be unreachable for a few days. But the experience was worth it.
This simple step, switching to a traditional wristwatch, can be an incredibly powerful first move in rebuilding your relationship with your smartphone and regaining control over your digital life. More importantly, it’s a small act of resistance against the colonial time structures that have been imposed upon us.
Finding joy in change
I’ve actually turned this into a fun hobby, exploring the world of vintage watches, and let me tell you, there are some absolutely wild ones out there.
My latest (and last one) timepiece is an EVA model from the 90s where the indicators are shaped like naked women, time is shown by apples, and the wristband is made of faux snake skin. How cool is that? Every time I check the time, I know it’s the perfect time to sin a little!
The number of people who stop me to say “hey, your watch is so cool” is incredible. And tell me, when was the last time someone complimented your smartphone? Well… when all of them are just the same boring screens I assume that never?
So get creative, buy yourself a cool watch, and use this as an opportunity to proudly differentiate yourself from the crowd of hypnotized zombies staring at their smartphones.
After all, time is precious - might as well check it in style while taking your first step toward decolonizing your relationship with it.
By reclaiming how you measure time, you begin to reclaim how you experience it, moving away from the capitalist imperative of productivity toward a more expansive, abundant relationship with temporal existence.
The next step: beyond watches
This simple watch practice is just the beginning of your journey toward temporal liberation. The next step would be totally avoiding any type of watches and using time for your own purpose to truly “enchant time” and bend it to your will.
But more on this practice in the next episode.
Let this advice become familiar to you first, as a different relationship with time requires introducing daily rituals and discipline that allows you to steer your reality and give it different frameworks than those imposed from above.
True temporal freedom means creating your own relationship with time rather than accepting the structures handed down to us, but this deeper liberation requires practice, intention, and a willingness to step outside conventional temporal boundaries, and not all of us are ready for this yet.
JO ✮⋆˙