Stepping Out of the Time Famine in 2011

 

“Many of life’s puzzles can be resolved by simply understanding our own time perspectives and those of others.”      

   Philip Zimbardo, Social Psychologist

 

As this year ends and we watch the
clock countdown to a new year, we have another opportunity to think
about the role of time in our lives.  

But this isn’t a post about time
management or adding to your list of ways to “maximize” your time.  Time
scarcity isn’t the issue – after all what did you do with the 8,424
hours (well still some left) you got in 2010?  Ultimately, how we use time has everything to do with how we think about time.  Understanding more about how you perceive time is the starting point to changing the way you experience it.

 Yes, we know you are a very busy person – join the club.  Tracking trends back to 1987, USA Today conducted
a poll in 2008 to determine how people perceive time and their own
“busyness.” The ’08 poll found that in every consecutive year since ’87,
people report that they are busier than the year before.  69% responded
that they were either “busy” or “very busy,” with only 8% surveyed
identifying themselves as being “not very busy.”  Women reported being
busier than men, and those between 30 and 60 were most busy. While 49%
stated that they would like to be “less busy,” you may be surprised to
hear that 37% said they would not.

When the respondents in the poll were
asked what they were sacrificing to their busyness, 56% cited sleep,
52% recreation, 51% hobbies,  44% friends and 30% family.  One
interesting statistic in the tracking of the time spent on
family showed that in 1987,  59% of those polled said they had at least
one family meal everyday – by ’08 that figure was down to 20%.

 

True, most people are working longer
hours. The statistics bear that out.  But something more is gripping our
psyches and reshaping our perception of time.   

“We are the architects of our memories.”  Stefan Klein

 Each
of us has a particular “time focus” that shapes our experience.  Those
of us with what’s called a “past positive” orientation to time tend to
fill our present time with memories of past times and planning for
future times.  Those with “past negative” orientations are often
comparing what didn’t work out in the past to what won’t work out in the
future. In each orientation, present time, is often overlooked.

 

Our past, present and future tense
orientations play a large role in how we structure and use our time. 
These orientations are not set in stone (though we reinforce the
hard-wiring of our brains when we act habitually in any tense). All of
us are born with a present – tense orientation, which becomes molded and
reshaped over time through our experiences.

Our concepts about time are often captured in cultural aphorisms like “time flies when you are having fun” and this is so boring it’s like “watching water boil.”  The
reality is that the real time you spend – whether you are enjoying
something or disliking it – is exactly the same.  What changes is your
perception of the experience fueled by the accompanying feeling. 

Recent studies suggest that it is your emotional experience that
most influences your perception of time. If you feel passion,
excitement, joy or curiosity, your experience of time seems to flow. The
flow state is that experience of immersion you feel when you join an activity with engaged positive feelings.

 On
the other hand, the boredom of watching “water boil” implies an absence
of emotional engagement or investment.  When we are not interested in
an activity, thing or person, time seems to stand still. 

Technology’s  Time Warp

 There’s
no question that technological changes in the past 20 years have
radically altered perceptions of time. In fact, we are in the early
stages of understanding just how signficant those changes are in brain
structure and the perception of time.

 

While the transformation of our time
consciousness is valuable to understand, it’s the realization that only
we can control our own thinking about time that is truly important. 

 

Too many of us believe there is a time famine, “there aren’t enough hours in the day,” is a cultural meme that drives our every activity.  Too many of us are living life as if it
was an emergency. We race from one action to the other, whether we are
talking, walking, paying partial attention to what other’s are saying,
driving or shopping, there is a frantic urgency to get things done as quickly and “productively” as possible.

We seem to forget, as author Joe Wilson points out, “Every
minute of the day is not an emergency, but when you’re in time urgent
mode all day, your lizard brain thinks it is. This makes time urgency,
as the researchers call this little-noticed affliction, a hidden driver
of stress — and a huge factor in everything from heart attacks, to dodgy
attention and decisions, to conflicts in your work and personal life,
to no personal life at all.”

 

Taking back your perception of time –
and living it is differently is within your power to change. 
Regardless of the external demands on your time and attentions, you have
the power to make real changes that will affect every part of your
life.

 

In the story line of your life in 2011, why not change the narrative from that of living in a Time Famine to living in Time Affluence
Savoring a moment,  re-energizing the power of an hour and allowing
time for nothing will be among the many gifts of making the shift.

As always we love to hear from you – What are your perceptions about time – and how are they impacting you?

Thanks for your comments, subscriptions, tweets and shares!

Wishing you a very Happy and Time – Spacious New Year!

Louise and George Altman, Intentional Communication Partners

Link to original post

Leave a Reply