You've Done Everything Right ...
You've read Atomic Habits. Tried Getting Things Done. Built the lists, set the timers, tracked the streaks.
And yet, in moments throughout your day, you still keep thinking: "Is life really meant to be this hard?"
Let's make a clear statement here and now: "No, it's not. You are not broken and you are not a failure."The Problem Isn't Your Discipline ...
Every time-management system treats Time (t) like a resource you can control—something to divide, allocate, and spend wisely.
But time isn't a resource.
Time is the 4th dimension (the other 3 being coordinates x, y, z). Right now, you're hurtling through space at over 2 million meters per second. Take a second or two to process that—it's very real and mind-blowing. The Earth spins, orbits, moves through the galaxy. You are, quite literally, a projectile moving through spacetime (all four dimensions together), whether you have a to-do list or not.Traditional productivity is built on 'Legacy Thinking': treating time as if you can "manage" it like a budget. That worked when life was slower. When information came in manageable doses. When the world wasn't 7+ billion people.
Time does not want to be managed. It manages you—it brings you to life, it ages you, and eventually you hit t_max and then time ends you.Introducing t+thinking: Temporal Optimization
What if, instead of trying to "manage" time, you learned to move through it with intention?
t+thinking awakens the Observer—the part of you that can see the patterns of your life as they unfold, and make conscious choices about where you're headed.
This is t+thinking : a clarity of temporal thinking, not arbitrary deadlines or productivity hacks.What Changes?...
You stop feeling overwhelmed (the Flux).
You stop living in the past (t-1).
You stop trying to manage the Present (t+0).
You start moving with time instead of against it (the Flow).
Life stops feeling like too much effort—because you remove uncertainty and anxiety for YOU+ (the version of you in the future).Ready to think differently about time?T+thinking - coming soon to a timeline near you.Neil Gartell 2026 (t+0)
The T+thinking Protocol Authenticity requires effort. The metaphors and frameworks found here are proprietary assets of the T+thinking project.
If these ideas help you navigate your own destination, please honor the origin by providing clear attribution. All rights to these assets are reserved at t+0 and beyond.