Technology promised us more time for leisure, but instead strapped us to computers, mobile phones, Black berries and other gadgets that constantly remind us of the time and the fact that we don’t have enough of it. We’ve become enslaved by the clock, an overlord from which we can’t escape – unless, of course, we actually decide to.

Is time a force we’re constantly pushing against, to be more productive, competitive or happy? Or is it the wondrous cycle of the natural world? Does time sound like ‘tick-tock’ and ‘beep-beep’, or the dawn chorus of birds singing and nocturnal creatures scurrying? Does it have a little-hand and a big-hand, or does it look like the changing light as the sun comes up, moves across the sky, and goes back down again?

City life is controlled by mechanical time yet we humans are naturally governed by biological time. Research by Deakin University and Parks Victoria found that these competing clocks cause us to become tense, irritable and unfocused. To counter those negative effects, tune into the natural world more and ‘clear your head’. Take off your shoes, smell the jasmine, notice nesting birds, visit an island in the middle of the Yarra…