How to Get Where You Want to Go in the Vortex:
Temporal Coordinates and Their Usage in Three-Dimensional Time
Alternate theories of time are often discounted due to their lack of evidence and also due to a lack of coherence with the rest of known physics. If time is not a linear dimension then much of our current understanding of the universe is undermined. Yet, if space is non-linear, why should time be linear?
The proposal that time itself is three-dimensional is not a new or exciting suggestion. In fact, this very concept is what most time machine crackpots hold on to as their saving grace. Why this is seems simple enough on the surface; a weird concept of time leads to weird conclusions and possibly weird technology... but it is deeper than this.
Let me explain. You see, time is relative to observers, but the ultimate progression of time is constant - no matter how fast or slow the clocks may be they still go forward. A clock moving at the speed of light maybe ticking indeed very slowly to those observing it; but to the clock, it is keeping perfect time. In order for a clock to actually go backwards you have to move faster than the speed of light. Of course, FTL travel is impossible. Thus all time travel, as current theory describes, would be inherently FTL travel; an impossibility. So you see the impasse for people who really really want time travel to exist; it is both a theoretic possibility and theoretical impossibility, the speed of light can not be exceeded.
There are some more conventional types who work within the bounds of known and accepted physics; employing the concepts of wormholes and non-local entanglement to break the speed limit. These are the same phenomena that attract people interested in other technological dreams, such as teleportation and instantaneous communication.
Then there is the group of people who, in desperation to break the trap of "forward-only time," denounce special and general relativity and forge new theories relating to time. These theories can be grouped into two categories: the {mystical and the pseudo-scientific. The mystical interpretations generally either conclude time to be merely an illusion (a Vedic principle), or that time is something like a reel-to-reel spliced together. That is, time is circular, and, in a sense, recording over past events with current ones (a more Western belief). Neither of these actually satisfy the desires of would-be time travelers, as both lock away the access of past and future events.
Which leads to the pseudo-scientific theories of time. This is why the three-dimensional theory of time is popular; not only does it give a way out of the time trap, it even (in theory) gives us a coordinate geometry to work with.
One only needs to access the spatial dimensions of time and away we go! A popular solution to this challenge is the idea that shifting your "resonant frequency" will shift your energy state into higher dimensions. Visual representations of time are varied, but many fit into the concept of a "vortex"; whether it be an ever-turning coil or an inter-connected network of temporal fibers. Once inside the vortex, you need some way to steer your time machine. This leads to additional creations of things such as "temporal wind," "temporal pull," and "temporal drift." These not only destroy the parsimony of three-dimensional time, but also just seem a tad bit Victorian, don't you think?
What would seem more likely is that you go into the vortex and just spin around until it spits you out someplace. This would allow you to, over time, control your craft by placing some kind of attracting beacon at the place you landed. Give it a designation and you can return there by tuning your craft to its frequency next time you're in the vortex. This is where a Time Vortex Coordinate System comes in handy. Obviously, since you would like to return home at some point, you would set up a beacon on Earth, present day. Let's just call this beacon "0,0,0" for now, and set it to resonate with the Earth's natural frequency. Unfortunately, as frequency changes, it might pose some difficulty in keeping a lock on old "0,0,0", however, the frequency of the Earth is predictable in its changes, so you can chart this (as long as you keep an Earth clock on your craft) and reset the frequency 000 points to onboard.
So after awhile, you will have a bunch of distant times and places racked up and as you learn more about the geography of spatial time you can rename the designators to more adequately reflect the landscape. Thus, you can build a true coordinate system for navigation through the time vortex.
All this, of course, assuming that three-dimensional time exists and that one can shift their frequencies to very high degrees in order to enter the vortex, and that like frequencies attract in the temporal plane. A lot of assumptions, true -- but hell, they don't call it pseudo-science for nothing.