Time is of the essence. Not necessarily in the urgent sense to act now, but rather as a priority to not act at all and simply be. In 2026, a popular trend prediction is to simply have time. A pursuit for a calmer, more balanced lifestyle, centring on having time for self-preservation and stepping off the treadmill of sprinting through life.

I kindly ask readers to soundtrack this reading with the intro of Pink Floyd's Time in the background. The long, atmospheric sound collage of ticking, ringing, and chiming clocks, followed by echoing, chaotic percussion presents the perfect soundscape to set the scene on time.

If you'd told anyone in 2019 that the must-have luxury for 2026 would be free time, they would have laughed, checked their smartwatch, and rushed to a meeting they didn't need to attend. We used to admire people who were always busy, wearing busy badges of honour. Now we admire people who aren't. So, the cool thing for 2026 is making time. Proper time. The dolce far niente kind of time of doing nothing, guilt-free, without checking emails 'just in case'. It is not suggested we become lazy couch potatoes binging Netflix all day long while munching take-outs. It is more about finding time to breathe, time to think, time to enjoy life. Those are the new so-called time rich. Those whose lifestyle allow for possible taking lunch breaks, leaving work before sunset, seeing friends without needing a shared Google Calendar, and having hobbies that aren't just scrolling in existential dread.

This time rich is an inevitable backlash to our collective state of time deprivation, a condition we've discussed so much this year. Much of the conversation on Malta's declining birth rate circled back to one simple issue: people don't have time. We've read, debated, and sighed deeply about how one of the reasons people aren't having children is because they do not have time. No time to start a family, no time to be with one, no time to raise tiny humans between meetings, deadlines, and traffic jams that feel like a full-time job on their own. Conversations have shifted toward reclaiming quality time, that is time not monetised, not scheduled, not spent stuck behind a steering wheel muttering under your breath. Actual, real, free time.

This slow-down movement is also a direct reaction against the "time is money" mantra and the gass mal-pjanca lifestyle of constant acceleration. People are tired and finally admitting that making money isn't the only metric that counts. The real wake-up call? Rising burnout, mental distress, and the growing realisation that success means very little if you're too exhausted to enjoy it. The irony is that even leisure now needs to be scheduled weeks in advance.

The growing shift from valuing money to valuing time is admirably reflected in the UK-wide 1 Million Minutes campaign, which invites people to donate not their money, but their hours. By encouraging volunteering with charities to tackle loneliness, the campaign recognises something quite powerful: presence, conversation, and shared moments often matter more than financial contributions. Time, after all, is the one resource we cannot earn back.

This is a model Malta could greatly benefit from embracing. Despite our close-knit reputation and relatively strong sense of community, loneliness remains a growing and often hidden reality, particularly among older members of society. It becomes especially visible this month, when festive togetherness imagery fills our screens, yet many experience deep isolation behind closed doors. For those living alone, the Christmas season amplify absence rather than connection. A national initiative centred on giving time rather than money could help bridge this gap. Simple acts like regular visits, shared meals, conversations over tea, or accompaniment to everyday errands or hospital visits, can have a profound impact. Such an approach would not only support that experiencing loneliness but also rebuild intergenerational ties and strengthen bonds at a community level. It also reminds us that community is built not through financial transactions, but through presence and reaffirmed collective responsibility.

Much like the opening of Pink Floyd's Time, there's that unsettling tick-tock anxiety humming in the background. A gentle but relentless reminder that time is marching on, whether we're ready or not. Back then it sounded like clocks going rogue; now it sounds like calendar alerts, unread emails, and a smartwatch politely scolding you for sitting too long.

The realisation that we've been hurrying, rather than actually living, shall hit home stronger in 2026. Our collective time deprivation becomes impossible to ignore, propelled by a series of deeply uncomfortable questions: Do you have time? More time? Enough time? Time to live, to rest, to care, to exist without multitasking? Time to be bored? Suddenly, the mindset of 2026 won't be about running out of money or missing opportunities. It will be about missing life altogether, while being extremely busy attending it.

Wishing all readers enough time to be bored in 2026. Time to have meaningful conversations without one eye on the watch. Because, in the end, being properly, fully unhurriedly human, may be the most impressive thing to achieve in 2026.