Time Alchemy: The Lost Art of Creating Time from Nothing
Most people will never accomplish even half of what they dream about.
Not because they lack talent, intelligence, or drive...
...but because they've been sold a lie about time.
This lie tells us time is fixed and scarce. But what if I told you time is actually malleable? This is where Time Alchemy comes in—the art of transforming your relationship with time itself.
Just as ancient alchemists sought to transmute base metals into gold, Time Alchemy offers principles to transform ordinary hours into extraordinary experiences.
The Tyranny of the Clock
You have the same 24 hours as everyone else. But unlike everyone else, you have multiple passions pulling you in different directions.
Society says: "Pick one. Specialize. Focus." Society is wrong.
The true masters of life don't eliminate their diverse interests. They transform their relationship with time itself.
The concept of time is artificial. You can define your day to have 25h with shorter minutes if you want to. It sounds ridiculous but it is important.
Not only is the "objective" definition of time relative and arbitrary.
Our 24-hour day is merely a convention, not a universal law. Different cultures throughout history have divided time differently—ancient Egyptians used 10-hour days, while Babylonians gave us our 60-minute hour. Understanding time's constructed nature is the first step to reclaiming power over it.
But your subjective experience of time is relative too. Sometimes minutes feel like hours, sometimes hours pass in a flash.
When was the last time you lost track of time doing some thing you loved? What does that tell you about your relationship with time?
So it is not about the amount of time, but your relationship to it and what you do with that time.
Because at the end of time, the only time you really have is now.
The Multipassionate Advantage
What if your "scattered" interests aren't a weakness but your greatest strength?
The Renaissance polymaths - Da Vinci, Franklin, Goethe, Hildegard von Bingen - didn't succeed despite their many passions. They succeeded because of them. They did not choose between either/or but decided to go for either/and.
Here's what the productivity gurus won't tell you:
When you chase only one passion, time feels scarce. When you weave multiple passions together, time becomes abundant.
So how do multipassionate individuals actually make this work in practice? The following four Time Alchemy principles form the foundation of this transformation—turning scattered interests into your superpower.
Four Time Alchemy Principles
1. Energy > Hours
Time is fixed, but energy is malleable.
The average person needs 2 hours to accomplish what you can do in 30 minutes when you're in flow state.
f you manage to conserve your energy to pursue your interests, this pursuit creates more energy than it uses. It becomes a perpetuum mobile.
Focus on your health. Seriously.
Mens sana in corpore sano. A healthy mind in a healthy body.
Do what is good for your body for that makes your mind happy and you will have more energy.
Because of that I have more energy now at the age of 40 as a father of three with a busy professional career than I head as the free-wheeling 20-year-old me.
I can show you how to identify your unique energy cycles and match specific tasks to your rhythms. This alone will give you back multiple hours weekly.
I am by nature an owl that likes to get up late and usually has an energy high in the evening. Unfortunately my professional frame makes me work as a lark.
You can argue whether that makes sense or not. But for me the benefits of planned freedom outweigh the drawbacks of living against that inclination.
As a consequence I am not at my most energetic high after a full days work plus family and whatever. So that means for me, I put the things that are most important for me and cannot be put into the schedules of my other life's areas in the very early morning hours - I get up at 5am to write for example.
Take this morning for example. I would have preferred to stay in bed and sleep more. But knowing that this is my only chance to that thing that gives me great joy that day, released a flush of energy that jump started my morning
There is no one-rule fits all. As you can see this is a multi-dimensional decision that you have to find out for yourself and your current circumstances.
Your energy is the catalyst that can transform the value of any given hour beyond what conventional time management recognizes.
2. Skill-Stacking Momentum
Stop treating your interests as separate competing entities. Instead, look for what I call "connection points."
Are there overlapping areas?
For example: I combined my love for talking, writing and music into a weekly podcast where I write and produce a song about each episode.
These overlapping areas harbour common skills. Every skill you develop compounds with others you already have.
When you learn to communicate, it doesn't just help your relationships - it transforms how you go about your art, spread your ideas, and connect with others.
The multipassionate person builds unusual skill combinations that create exponential returns.
Consider Lin-Manuel Miranda, who combined his interests in history, hip-hop, and musical theater to create Hamilton, revolutionizing Broadway and making history accessible to new audiences.
Or take Leonardo Da Vinci. His anatomical studies directly informed his painting techniques, while his engineering expertise influenced his artistic compositions. His interests didn't compete—they amplified each other.
Use things you have to do anyway to consciously develop skills in areas you are more interested in.
Draw a Venn diagram with your three main passions. In the overlapping areas, write down skills, topics, or approaches that connect them. Look for surprising combinations—these are your unique advantage.
For example hone your public speaking skills with every seemingly insignificant presentation at work.
Master writing skills with every email. Craft beautiful presentation to propel your artistic craft.
Picture your day as a canvas rather than a calendar. Where are the blank spaces? The overpainted areas? What colors represent energy-giving versus energy-draining activities?
Piggyback your interests to areas that need to be taken care of anyways.
For years I put my toothbrush on my meditation pillow, just so meditating because as a regular habit as brushing my teeth.
There might be also hidden skills in one life area that could be helpful in other areas but you are just not conscious about.
I for example developed the skill of perseverance during surgeries that lasted up to 18 hours. It took me years to realize that I have that skill and can direct that to other areas, just by consciously pretending that it would be just like a long surgery, where I just can't quit and walk away.
When you allow your interests to flow together naturally, you discover connections that expand what's possible within limited time.
What is one of your hidden skills?
3. Stop Doing Stupid Things
The problem is not how much time you make. But for what? We all do way to much stupid stuff.
TV is stupid. Doom-Scrolling is also stupid. News are stupid. There are many more things that are stupid.
This is not about "stopping to waste" time. Wasting time with seemingly useless things is great and a a creativity tool. This is more about things that are actively diminishing your energy and increasing your stress response.
Stupid things include busyness just for the sake of busyness. Rather do nothing, than mindlessly trying to be more productive by checking of your busy task list.
Since technology has been diligently optimised to exploit our weaknesses we have to use radical steps to regain control.
I blocked all news websites on my computer and phone. In multiple languages because I found myself checking on Italian news websites after having blocked the german and english ones.
Uninstall or hide social media apps. Use apps like OneSec to increase friction.
The stupid things we do are often based on stupid habits. And it takes around 30 days to transform a stupid habit into a smarter habit.
Stare holes in the air. Become aware of your surroundings and what's going on inside of you.
This practice provides the solid foundation upon which all other time transformation depends.
4. Make Time
“Watch your thoughts, for they become words.
Watch your words, for they become actions.
Watch your actions, for they become habits.
Watch your habits, for they become character.
Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.”
We pay very little attention to the fact that we have a big influence over our thoughts. A thought is like a guest: we can invite it into our mental house to stay or send it away. Most of us have a no-door policy resulting in state like a pool party crashed by thousands of uninvited facebook friends.
One of those permanent, uninvited guests is the thought:
"I don't have time" usually in close vicinity to his buddy thought "I need to find time". Both are very stupid and should be shown the door immediately.
You never "find time". You make time.
Let me repeat: You make time.
If you want something, you "make time" for it.
It is a mindshift. Action is when something moves. So move your perspective.
I suggest you let this thought be your guest from now on:
Every single moment I can make time.
What does that practically mean?
Watch your thoughts. Listen to yourself, how you talk to yourself about the things that you are yearning for. The things you want to do in your "Me"-time. And then watch yourself as you prioritize other things or other people's things over your own priorities.
Once you realize it happening, it is much either to do something about it.
This shift in perspective lifts you above the tyranny of the clock, revealing entirely new temporal dimensions.
The Transformation
We're not just talking about squeezing more tasks into your day.
This is about becoming a different type of person entirely.
One who doesn't fight against time, but dances with it.
It is about transforming your awareness of time.
Just as the focus on breathing transforms conventional fitness exercises into the much more transformative practice of Yoga.
So does your focus on time transform your amount and experience of time itself.
Time will stretch; you will find open pockets of time that you haven't been aware of before.
The more interests you have, the more you can use whatever life throws at you to integrate, develop and relate. You can make art from anything, you can transform any situation into a learning experience, you can create where ever you are.
Let your interests hang like loose tentacles from you and watch how they attach to whatever matches as you go about your life.
I am working on a book "Better Life," where I'm revealing the complete framework for this transformation.
These principles aren't just theoretical—they're meant to be lived. Let's start with a simple challenge that will demonstrate how powerful this perspective shift can be.
Imagine waking up feeling energized about your day, not because you have fewer commitments, but because each activity feeds into your multiple passions in some way...
These four principles work together as a holistic system. When practiced in harmony, they create a transcendent relationship with time that is particularly powerful for multipassionate creators.
For now, try this:
Your Time Alchemy Challenge
List your three most burning interests right now
Spend 15 minutes identifying one point where any two intersect
Make time by creating a single 30-minute block this week dedicated to exploring this intersection
Notice how this feels different. How prioritising something that is important to yourself shifts the perception of your time availability.
You just created time from nothing.
Time alchemy isn't about managing minutes. It's about crafting a life where your diverse interests fuel each other rather than compete.
The master doesn't need more time. The master transforms their relationship with time itself and so creates time out of nothing.
Remember: The clock on your wall measures seconds, but your life measures experiences. When you transform your relationship with time, you don't just do more—you become more.
There's more to this approach than I could share in a single essay. If you're interested in exploring these concepts further, simply reply with "Time Alchemy" and I'll share additional resources I've developed for multipassionate creators.*
To more in life,
Nicco