In Good Time: 8 Habits for Reimagining Productivity, Resisting Hurry, and Practicing Peace by Jen Pollock Michel (Baker Books, 2022).

I’ve been meaning to read Jen Pollock Michel’s latest book since I received a complimentary review copy earlier this year. But somehow I never made time for it until just a few weeks ago. Yes, I’ve been procrastinating again—or have I been “reimagining productivity” and “resisting hurry” as in the subtitle of her book?

For me, one of the most helpful parts of the book is the way Michel  contrasts two understandings of time. Mechanical time is clock time, measured in hours and minutes, with an emphasis on productivity, on getting things done. Fitting time is time understood as a gift from God, not so much to be managed as received, not measured by how much gets done, but by what is most suitable, most appropriate.

Of course clock time is useful. On Sunday I knew from my clock when it was time for me to leave for the church where I was preaching. Yesterday I checked the clock before I went to the cemetary to lead a graveside service. Used wisely, clock time can help us connect with other people and build relationships.

But fitting time helps us too.

The preacher in Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 says there is a season—a fitting time—for everything. Ecclesiastes even includes a long list of examples. But how do we know when it’s time to tear down or a time to build? A time to search or a time to give up, a time to keep or a time to throw away? We can’t answer such questions simply by looking at a clock or a calendar, because these questions are not about mechanical time. They’re about discerning what is fitting.

As Michel says in her book:

We need to discover the practice of fitting time. (page 209)

The task of discerning fitting time demands wisdom. What does this moment require of us? What opportunities, should we neglect them, might prove irretrievable? (page 211)

I’ve been thinking more about this question for my own life: What does this moment require of me? Sometimes the moment requires time to mourn and pray. Sometimes it requires time to write. Sometimes it requires time to spend with others. What is fitting doesn’t go by the clock, but by what is most suitable in the moment, and that takes careful discernent.

I’ve already shared this idea of mechanical time and fitting time as part of my class on how to discern when it’s time to let go of a dream. I’ve shared it as part of a sermon on Psalm 90:12: “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”  I’m sure I’ll share it in other contexts and keep thinking about it for myself too.

This is just one of the many gems in Jen Pollock Michel’s In Good Time (Baker Books, 2022). If you’re concerned about finding time, saving time, managing time, and looking for some relief, you’ll appreciate this book.

Disclosure: Thank you to Graf-Martin Communications and Baker Books for sending me a complimentary copy of In Good Time. As always, the choice to review and my opinions expressed in this blog are my own and freely offered.

Writing/Reflection Prompt: What does this day require of you?