'The Time Paradox' presents research by Stanford University psychologists Philip Zimbardo and John Boyd which examines our perspective on time and the effects that this has on our success, health, relationships and overall happiness in life.
30 years of research and over 10,000 research subjects on, Zimbardo and Boyd have established 6 different ways (or orientations) in which we perceive time.
Past Positive Orientation: People who perceive time in this way often yearn for the 'good old days' or a halcyon past.
Present Hedonist Orientation: As the name might suggest, they live for the moment, thriving on spontaneity and new experiences.
Present Fatalist Orientation: Individuals living in the here and now because they believe that their fate is sealed by external forces.
Past Negative Orientation: These are people with a past that haunts them, encroaching on the present, colouring everything they do.
Future Orientation: These folk plan, schedule and organise every inch of their life, focusing on goals and delaying gratification until the next step....and then the next step....
Transcendental future Orientation: For this group, their time will come... but only after they cease living and breathing. Belief in a higher power and future reward is essential for this perception of time.
Even though we might use and relate to all of these time perspectives at different junctures in life, Zimbardo and Boyd point out that how high or low you rank on each orientation will have a serious impact on your happiness and success.
Balance of focus is the key to overall wellbeing, with those who focus on their past experiences in a positive light, reflecting on a difficult or troubled past constructively, experiencing the highest levels of wellbeing. Those encountering the worst effects of an unbalanced time perspective focus on unhappy past events, believing that outside forces control their fate, whatever they do will have no impact and that the future is truly out of their hands.
Similarly, too much time spent focusing on future goals and events at the expense of being 'present' with family and friends also impacts negatively upon wellbeing and happiness. The message of The Time Paradox is balance, balance, balance.
Time orientation was also found to impact significantly on close interpersonal relationships. Zimbardo states that this accounts for couple 'mismatches' where Future Orientated partners view their Present Hedonist mis-matched mate as 'Irresponsible' who in turn see them as 'Slave drivers'. Once we start to examine The Time Paradox it all seems painfully obvious whilst at the same time, simple to fix.
The Time Paradox provokes us to think about time, how we use it, how we view it and how we can strive to improve our use of it. In order to accomplish the equilibrium required for optimum wellbeing Zimbardo talks about 'resetting the clock' and modifying our current perspective to gain a more balanced view. Considering the time orientation of those around you, at home, in teams, at work and in business could prove to be more productive than you ever thought possible - something to contemplate the next time you think about time management training.
