History Main / FantasticTimeManagement

* One ''XKCD'' strip suggests getting some long monitor and keyboard cables, and putting the CPU of your computer in Narnia, while keeping the I/O parts in England. Since Narnia time goes really fast, you can now run through the entire SETI@Home database in an hour...

* Used surprisingly ''infrequently'' in ''DoctorWho''. One notable exception is the episode "[[Recap/DoctorWho2010CSAChristmasCarol A Christmas Carol]]", in which the Doctor has roughly an hour to save a crashing space ship. His solution takes ''years'' to execute.

** In the Mahora Festival arc, Negi ends up majorly overbooking his schedule.[[hottip:*:(Being a NiceGuy and unable to say "no" to his UnwantedHarem.)]] He is given a TimeTravel device by Chao in order to allow him to meet all his commitments, time jumping three times on the first day alone. Of course, because this deprives him of sleep, he then ''also'' uses the aforementioned Evangeline's resort to be able to rest from all these activities.

* This is how Tezzeret solves the labyrinth in the ''MagicTheGathering'' novel ''MagicTheGathering/TestOfMetal''. He harnesses Silas Renn's clockworking powers to explore every nook and cranny of the maze with an infinite number of alternate-timeline versions of himself.

Favorite methods include TimeTravel, YearInsideHourOutside, and NarniaTime, however there can also be other ways of accomplishing this. This is often a form of MundaneUtility.

** Mr. Soak, the milkman, does this. Somehow, the milk is always on your doorstep at exactly 7 am. For everyone. Turns out [[spoiler:[[SdrawkcabName Soak]] is actually [[AnthropomorphicPersonification Kaos]], and can stop time as well]].

[[caption-width-right:350:[[HaremHero How else do you keep your commitments to 31 girls in one day?]]]]

* In ''MahouSenseiNegima'', Negi Springfield uses ''both'' the TimeTravel ''and'' the YearInsideHourOutside solution:

* Done in ''{{Megamind}}''. During some hero-villain banter with Megamind, Metro Man [[spoiler: realizes that he has been doing the same thing for years. He uses his super speed to go out, think to himself, and read SEVERAL self-help books. All this time, he's moving so fast that time appears frozen to him.]] It's done to ridiculous extents, but it makes sense seeing as how it IS a parody.

* In ''BillAndTedsBogusJourney'', Bill and Ted exploit their time machine to get a few extra years' guitar practice in before the Battle of the Bands. This despite the previous film having [[SanDimasTime explicitly established]] that this was impossible…

* In ''HarryPotterAndThePrisonerOfAzkaban'', Hermione Granger uses daily time travel to take more classes than would be otherwise possible. At the end she decides it's too much of a hassle and drops the extra subjects to have a more normal schedule.

* In ''{{Touhou}}'', Sakuya often use her time manipulation power to speed up housework.

::... but eventually gets quite used to it, to the point where he has to be magically restricted from using it more often than the intended two turns per day.

* In the 1980s ''TwilightZone'' episode "A Little Peace and Quiet", a harried housewife finds a magic sundial that allows her to stop and restart time. She uses it to literally make time for herself, enjoying a peaceful breakfast or leisurely shopping for groceries while time is stopped for everyone else. Everything is perfect until nuclear war breaks out and she stops time while a missile is 10 feet above her head. She will have to choose between dying with everyone else and living her life forever trapped between two instants of time.

* In ''DextersLaboratory'', there's an episode where Dexter has only one minute before the school bus arrives and he hasn't done his homework yet, so he uses a time-extending helmet to turn 30 seconds into 30 minutes to get everything done. [[ShaggyDogStory It turns out to be in vain as that day it snowed and school was canceled.]]

[[caption-width-right:350:[[HaremHero How else do you keep your commitments to 31 girls in one day?]]]]
Characters are often pressed for time. Maybe they overbook themselves for a specific time period, or maybe they just have a very busy life general, what with having the WakeUpGoToSchoolSaveTheWorld all the time. Perhaps they have a deadline that is just physically impossible to meet in the allotted time.

Well, not to worry: All they have to do is create more time, using MagicAndPowers or AppliedPhlebotinum.

Favorite methods include TimeTravel, YearInsideHourOutside, and NarniaTime, however there can also be other ways of accomplishing this. This is often a form of MundaneUtility.
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!Examples:

[[folder:{{Anime}} and {{Manga}}]]

[[folder:ComicBooks]]
* In an issue of ''LoveAndCapes'', superhero (and accountant) Crusader forgets to do his own taxes until 11:30 p.m. on April 15. He has to have them finished and in the mail by midnight. Even using his super-speed powers, he is unable to finish them until 2 a.m. the next day. This is no problem, since he lives in the Eastern time zone; He just flies at super speed to the west coast, and mails his taxes in before midnight Pacific time.

[[folder:FanFic]]

[[folder:{{Literature}}]]

* ''Time Machine'' story "[[http://books.google.com/books?id=sHUp8snNE7YC&pg=PA8 The Time Machine Twins the Jamboree]]". Bob Tucker (who is a Boy Scout) needs to be at Jamboree West and Jamboree East, but they're being held at the same time. "Brains" Baines comes up with the idea of using the Time Machine to move him from one event to the other, and taking him to a deserted beach in the 40th century to sleep between appearances.
* The ''DragonridersOfPern'' books have several examples of people using their dragons' time-jumping ability to do this.
** Jaxom does it a few times throughout ''The White Dragon'', mostly for relatively trivial reasons.
** In ''Moreta, Dragonlady of Pern'', Moreta does it repeatedly, to the point of exhaustion and eventual death, to deliver a plague cure to everyone who needs it.
* In the ''{{Discworld}}'' novel ''Discworld/ThiefOfTime'', the title character can make time flow faster or slower for himself relative to the world around him. He regularly uses this ability for mundane everyday schedule management.

[[folder:LiveActionTV]]
* In the 1980s ''TwilightZone'' episode "A Little Peace and Quiet", a harried housewife finds a magic sundial that allows her to stop and restart time. She uses it to literally make time for herself, enjoying a peaceful breakfast or leisurely shopping for groceries while time is stopped for everyone else. Everything is perfect until nuclear war breaks out and she stops time while a missile is 10 feet above her head. She will have to choose between dying with everyone else and living her life forever trapped between two instants of time.

[[folder:TabletopGames]]

[[folder:VideoGames]]
* In ''{{Touhou}}'', Sakuya often use her time manipulation power to speed up housework.

[[folder:{{Webcomics}}]]
* In the "Heavy Meta" arc of ''TVTropesTheWebcomic'', the Troper Crue travels back in time ([[spoiler:six times]]) to rehearse their songs for a concert that takes place in less than a week.

[[folder:WesternAnimation]]

** Mr. Soak, the milkman, does this. Somehow, the milk is always on your doorstep at exactly 7 am. For everyone. Turns out [[spoiler:Soak is actually [[AnthropomorphicPersonification Kaos]], and can stop time as well]].

* In the ''{{Discworld}}'' novel ''Discworld/ThiefOfTime'', the title character can make time flow faster or slower for himself relative to the world around him. He regularly uses this ability for mundane everyday schedule management.

** In the Mahora Festival arc Negi ends up majorly overbooking his schedule.[[hottip:*:(Being a NiceGuy and unable to say "no" to his UnwantedHarem.)]] He is given a TimeTravel device by Chao in order to allow him to meet all his commitments, time jumping three times on the first day alone. Of course, because this deprives him of sleep, he then ''also'' uses the aforementioned Evangeline's resort to be able to rest from all these activities.

** In order to be able to both do his school teaching duties and go through a [[TrainingFromHell special magic/combat training]], Negi begins to use his mentor Evangeline's special resort located in a PocketDimension where one day is equivalent to one our in our world.

** In order to be able to both do his school teaching duties and go through a [[TrainingFromHell special magic/combat training]], Negi begins to use his mentor's special resort located in a PocketDimension where one day is equivalent to one our in our world.

* In the Mahora Festival arc of ''MahouSenseiNegima'', Negi Springfield ends up majorly overbooking his schedule. He is given a TimeTravel device by Chao in order to allow him to meet all his commitments, time jumping three times on the first day alone.

!Examples

* In ''HarryPotterAndThePrisonerOfAzkaban'', Hermione Granger uses daily time travel to take more classes than would be otherwise possible.

* In ''DextersLaboratory'', there's an episode where Dexter has only one minute before the school bus arrives and he hasn't done his homework yet, so he use a time-extending helmet to give him 30 minutes to get everything done.

* In ''BillAndTedsBogusJourney'', Bill and Ted exploit their time machine to get a few extra years' guitar practice in before the Battle of the Bands. This despite the previous film having [[SanDimasTime explicitly established]] that this was impossible...

* In ''HarryPotterAndTheMethodsOfRationality'', Harry is given a Time Machine to get more sleep, as the result of a sleep disorder.

* In ''[[{{ptitle9rfuhqnp4mtr}} Dexter's Laboratory]]'', there's an episode where Dexter has only one minute before the school bus arrives and he hasn't done his homework yet, so he use a time-extending helmet to give him 30 minutes to get everything done.

* Done in ''Megamind''. During some hero-villain banter with Megamind, Metro Man [[spoiler: realizes that he has been doing the same thing for years. He uses his super speed to go out, think to himself, and read SEVERAL self-help books. All this time, he's moving so fast that time appears frozen to him.]] It's done to ridiculous extents, but it makes sense seeing as how it IS a parody.