You aren't in control

He wakes up and asks his clock what time it is. The clock answers faithfully, just as it does every single morning. As he wakes up, he thinks to himself "the brain isn't meant for keeping track of time or todo lists".

As he stands up, out of his bed, he then takes a quick glance at his wrist watch, once again in an attempt to control time. He has about 10 tasks ahead of him - mundane ones that every half decent human should do in the morning before leaving for work. 

He's been trying to optimize how quickly he can leave for work in the mornings without dilly-dallying. He knows time passes the fastest when you're not looking. "It's like leaving your milk to boil", he thinks to himself, "don't pay attention to it for just a second, and 10 minutes will have passed by and the milk overflows".

So he makes a note of what minute the clock shows. He then starts his routine, checking in on the clock completing one task after the next. And surely, he's still got a good grip on time.

"First task complete, time check",
"Second task complete, time check",
...
"10th task complete, time check".

"Yep", he says, "this is the only way to have a grip on time. Observe it". He smiles, content for a second. "So if you do pay attention, you can control time. Hah, I'll be at work in record time". 

Just as he's about to leave, he realizes he can't find his gloves. It's too cold outside to go without them. He starts looking for them. He says "I used them last night. I had this coat on." He pauses, goes through the pockets of each coat. 

"Huh, okay let's check the other bag".
"The sports bag?".
"Study table.."
"..."
"Okay finally. Magically on the shoe rack".

He looks at the time. Sixteen minutes have passed since the time he thought he'd leave.

"Hah. Funny, time has a peculiar way of catching up".

The irony in this image gets me. I love it.
There's a switch board, a mechanism to control things right below a clock showing the time, something you have no control over. And it tells you to relax.