Time anxiety?

If you’ve been subscribed for a while, you may notice that I usually send out The Intersection early in the morning. It’s nearly 7 PM while I’m finalizing this one, though. Who cares? It’s kind of today’s theme… time.

The season of overlap

As the summer comes to an end, one of the busiest months of the year for me turned out to be August, filled with fall planning and new opportunities instead of mainly downtime. And I’m really grateful.

Looking ahead at September, while it’s the end of the year for a lot of businesses with Q4, it’s also the start of a new school year. That’s something I pay attention to, as a teacher at both a university and a college.

This combination of summer ending, the school year starting, and the last quarter of the fiscal year looming all at once could create some sense of “time anxiety.” Before this week, though, that wasn’t a term I heard of.

I’ve subscribed to way more podcasts than I could possibly listen to every episode of, but just after having a conversation about all of my commitments, a perfect episode of Daily Creative popped up in my feed while walking home.

What is time anxiety?

Daily Creative’s Todd Henry was hosting Chris Guillebeau, an author who wrote one of my favourite books ever back in 2010: The Art of Non-Conformity. This time though, he was there to discuss his new book, Time Anxiety.

He described the concept of time anxiety as:

Unlike FOMO, which is tied to the present moment, time anxiety cuts across past, present, and future — regret, pressure, and uncertainty all at once.

Phantom deadlines and borrowed benchmarks

External pressures shape our perception of time. We see the outliers and think that by age 30, we should have a certain net worth — whereas the median is likely 2 decades older.

Chris called these phantom deadlines — arbitrary benchmarks that create unnecessary pressure. But how can we counteract this?

Set your own constraints, standards, and definition of what success means.

From optimization to alignment

There’s a big difference between optimization and alignment. I’ve felt this.

Tools like Notion and endless productivity hacks might make us feel in control, but they can end up helping us “do the wrong things more efficiently.”

Over the years as a founder, I’ve caught myself executing without paying much attention to what’s happening deeper down or to the bigger picture.

Perhaps you have too. Here’s what Chris encourages us to do:

Todd decided to experiment by tracking “tensions” in his life. He admitted that much of his “time stress” came from avoiding uncomfortable but unresolved issues.

Chris echoed that facing those directly, instead of optimizing around them, leads to better decisions and less anxiety.

It’s about weighing the trade-offs between competing values and priorities so we can invest our finite energy wisely, operating out of an empowered rather than a fear-based state (easier said than done).

5 key learnings

Here are the top 5 takeaways from the conversation:

1. Time anxiety spans past, present, and future. It’s not only about daily overwhelm — it’s regrets from the past, uncertainty about the future, and the constant tick of the clock.

2. Efficiency doesn’t fix the problem. Productivity tools can’t cure anxiety. The real answer is aligning your time with your values, priorities, and desired impact.

3. Phantom deadlines create false urgency. Many of us chase timelines set by cultural norms or outliers. Defining your own benchmarks is more freeing and sustainable.

4. Urgent isn’t always important. Our best work often requires space for reflection, creativity, and non-urgent tasks. Protect that time.

5. Self-awareness is the foundation. Pay attention to how time feels—not just how it’s spent. Notice energy levels, unresolved tensions, and use that insight to guide decisions.

Take a moment to reflect

Here are some questions you can ask yourself:

• Where do I feel the strongest sense of “time anxiety”?
  Past regrets, present busyness, or future uncertainty?

• What phantom deadlines am I chasing that don’t actually serve me?

• How do I distinguish between urgent tasks and important but less visible work?

• What activities energize me versus drain me? Am I making enough space for the first category?

• If I asked myself, “Did today matter?”, what would my answer be? Why?

What’s next?

As someone who’s been intentional about having flexibility over my time and schedule for many years, there have been many times when I fell victim to saying yes to too much and overcommitting.

So throughout 2025, I’ve focused on balancing three things:

1. What feels right in the moment, when I’m inspired and driven to act

2. Projects and programming that create a positive impact

3. Work that generates income so I can sustain my lifestyle and fund future ideas

It’s forever a balance.

That’s why I’m reviewing every “third” of the year instead of following “quarters” (something my wife and I have both adopted this year). It’s why this podcast conversation resonated so strongly.

The reminder wasn’t to optimize harder, but to align more deeply.

Let me know…

Do you experience “time anxiety"?
Had you thought about it much before today?

Until next time,

Daniel