Ever noticed how time flies when you are working on a computer? At times I spend over 60 hours a week at the keyboard. No wonder the weeks seem to tick by like minutes!
Professors Chaston and Kingstone of the University of Alberta found that the more mind is engaged in a task, the faster time seems to go by. Time to put down the mouse?
At one time I thought I would live forever, but now I know better. In fact I now know that the older you get, the faster time seems to go by. This is referred to as "lived time", and it's due in part to fact that at age fifty one year represents 2% of your life vs.10% at the age of ten. At the "Logarithmic Age" they quantify this effect. Your perception of time changes to the extent that age forty one year is perceived as the same duration two did at age twenty.
Studies on the perception of time also show that we perceive time as moving faster due to decreasing levels of dopamine in our brain, and the role that memory plays in light of introducing more routine into our lives. Maybe we all need a little more dopamine and a new cage-wheel.
It's bad enough that with age life starts to fly by faster, but if you spend a lot of time at a computer this sense is accelerated even further.
DRIVING THAT TRAIN, HIGH ON...
Is there a way to "stop ourselves", to slow things down? Cocaine increases dopamine levels in the brain to the extent that time seems to stand still or move incredibly slowly, but its not something I would recommend.
When I go on vacation I just do nothing. That's the only trick I have found that works.
While you can't put more hours into your life, can...
PUTTING MORE LIFE INTO YOUR HOURS...
How can get more out this this increasingly scarce resource?
- Make sure you have a Big Picture. If you need one you get one here.
- Put "First Things First", allocating more time to high-payoff activities.
- Stop up the "leaks" or timewasters. In your personal life avoid such websites as Best Time Wasting Sites on the Web , where from there you can play "Toboggan Jump", watch old computer ads, or just browse Japanese Dog Clothing. In your professional life it's all about Getting Things Done.
- Cut the clutter, be it email, interruptions, or other distractions. Don't answer the phone every time it rings.
- Unclog the pipes. Get to know your energy cycles. Get the spyware off your computer.
- Engage the principle of leverage. Bill Gates certainly had a little help.
- Learn to use the word "No".
- Distinguish between the important and the urgent to get out of continuous crisis mode.
- 80% of your success comes from 20% of your efforts. The trick is in finding which 20% is the one that works.