According to Philip Zimbardo, professor emeritus at Stanford University and past president of the American Psychological Association, and John Boyd, time has become the most popular noun in the English language. A search on Yahoo.com for "time" results in more than 7 billion hits whereas there are fewer than 3 billion hits for "money" and less than a billion hits for "sex."

Although we are obsessed with time and many of us feel naked without a wristwatch, sales for them were down in 2007. Why? Because we can check the time on cell phones, PDAs, and computers. Our use of electronic media — "televisions, radios, computers, phones, iPods and MP3s, videos, and game players — now accounts for an average of slightly under eight hours (470 minutes) in an average American's typical twelve-and-a-half-hour day." No wonder so many people yearn for more time to spend with family and friends!

In this thought-provoking book, the authors define a "time perspective" as "the often nonconscious personal attitude that each of us holds toward time and the process whereby the continual flow of existence is bundled into time categories that help to give order, coherence, and meaning to our lives." Zimbardo and Boyd have surveyed more than 10,000 adults over the past 30 years and come up with six ways in which people view time.

For example, those with a high-past positive perspective like the good old days and have positive memories. The upside of this view is that they are seldom anxious or depressed. The downside is their resistance to change. High-present hedonists are eager for short-term fun and pleasure. The upside is that they are capable of pleasure and good times. The downside is various addictions, risky sex, and spotty job record. High futures are planning and setting goals for tomorrow; they delay gratification and honor commitments. The upside is that they are often healthy and make a lot of money. The downside is that they sometimes regret all the sacrifices they made for the future.

After many colorful anecdotal accounts and material on time as it relates to body, health, work, money, and happiness; the authors share their ideas about resetting you psychological clock with "an optimal time-perspective profile." They provide some ideas and practices to help facilitate the process of becoming a wise steward of our time.