clock is ticking

I have the feeling that even while the clock is ticking we are moving on to terrible things.

1922, E. Phillips Oppenheim, chapter 2, in The Great Prince Shan

The clock is ticking for Mikhail Gorbachev too. Of all the failures of political and economic theory in this century, the Soviet failure is the most spectacular.

1986 April 23, James Reston, “Washington The Ticking Clock”, in New York Times, retrieved 22 Dec 2015

You must be Jules, which would make you Vincent. Let's get down to brass tacks, gentlemen. If I was informed correctly, the clock is ticking. Is that right, Jimmie?

1994 May 21, Quentin Tarantino, Roger Avary, Pulp Fiction, spoken by Winston Wolfe (Harvey Keitel), Los Angeles, Calif.: Miramax Films, →OCLC

"We know the clock is ticking, and the longer it takes us to find the person who has been kidnapped, the less likely the case is to have a successful outcome."

2006 February 19, Alasdair Palmer, “‘We know the clock is ticking. Kidnap is a murder waiting to happen’”, in Telegraph, UK, retrieved 22 Dec 2015

The clock is ticking. And with every tick, the Trudeau government’s goal of bringing 25,000 refugees from the Middle East to Canada by the end of the year grows more improbable.

2015 November 12, John Ibbitson, “Politics notebook: Clock is ticking for Trudeau to resettle 25,000 refugees”, in Globe and Mail, Canada, retrieved 22 Dec 2015