Stop Time

The Difference Between Chronos and Kairos, and What I Learned When I Lost My Watch

“To grasp kairos time we have to release some of our anxiety around chronos time.” — Enuma Okoro

Reading Time: 5 minutes

By: Annemarie Bijloos

A Fortunate Loss

Recently, I lost my smartwatch, which had a step counter, heart rate monitor, sleep tracker, and all the bells and whistles. Surprisingly, I felt relieved and liberated from all those tracking devices. Mornings no longer started with checking my watch to see if I had slept well. More significantly, I felt freed from the constant ticking of clock time.

Time Stress

I’m not alone in feeling stressed by time. Over half of the Dutch population says they are too busy, and more than a third feel rushed at least one day a week, according to the Social and Cultural Planning Office (Volkskrant 2023). Whether we actually have more to do than in the past is debatable, but we certainly perceive time as something we never have enough of.

Ancient Greek Concepts of Time

The ancient Greeks had two concepts of time: Chronos and Kairos.

• Chronos: Linear time, divided into past, present, and future. It’s quantitative, measurable in milliseconds and days, where we can spend time wisely or waste it. We talk about time ticking, flying, waiting for no one, or taking no breaks. When we feel time pressure, we’re dealing with chronos time.
• Kairos: The right moment, a kind of divine timing. Originating from archery, kairos is the perfect moment when the archer finds the ideal opportunity to hit the target. If chronos is a line, kairos is a circle, a portal to non-linear time where we lose track of time and become fully present.

Living in Kairos

A kairos moment can happen anytime, not bound by chronological units. It might be a sudden urge to call a friend or play a favorite song. It also includes activities like meditation, reading, walking, staring out the window, fishing, enjoying art, dancing, slow cooking, truly listening, or acting on intuition. These activities keep us attentive, open, and in the present moment, where opportunities lie (Okoro in Financial Times 2021).

We’re often so busy that we miss kairos moments. Even if we notice them, distractions like phone calls, deliveries, grocery runs, or household chores pull us away. Just as the titan Cronus (Father Time) devoured his own children to prevent them from overthrowing him, we are ‘devoured’ by chronos time.

Stepping Outside Time

How can we break free, at least occasionally? Writer Enuma Okoro suggests that “to grasp kairos time, we have to release some of our anxiety around chronos time” (Financial Times 2021). She tries to heed her daily inner need to go outside for a walk, despite work pressures and everyday chaos.

I could end with the slogan: “Seize a kairos moment, book a massage!” But what we experience as a kairos moment varies from person to person. Whether it’s walking, a massage, or something else entirely, being open to kairos is liberating. It allows you to place yourself, even briefly, outside the all-consuming passage of time. To ask yourself what this moment truly looks like and to be fully present in it.

If you’re unsure where to start, try taking off your watch.

Sources

• “Druk, druk, druk. Is het leven echt zo veel gejaagder dan vroeger?” by Anna van den Breemer and Serena Frijters, Volkskrant, April 1, 2023.
• “How Covid changed our sense of time” by Enuma Okoro, Financial Times, February 5, 2021.

Annemarie Bijloos is a philosopher, masseuse, and yoga instructor. You can read more of her stories here.

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