Get the most out of your life: Understanding your time orientation

At a recent business mixer, I met a man who is in the business of meditation. An interesting discussion ensued, with the man demonstrating the power of simply being present. You know, the kind of activity where your focus is squarely on what is happening at that moment. All senses are engaged if only for just a few moments. I tried out this technique a couple of days later, and each day thereafter, floating in a bay in the Dominican Republic. It was, to say the least, restorative. Where my mind usually is running at full tilt 99% of the time, the act of just feeling the water, listening to the birds overhead, other tourists chattering and playing on the beach and in the water, the feel of the ocean against my skin, and the sun on my face, I was blissfully devoid of thoughts on how to fix every problem or change the world. I was just, for the lack of a better word, there.

Returning to reality, and getting the mind into full gear again, I wondered if there was a formula for balancing living in the now and thinking about the future. The daily news is enough to compel anyone to plan for the worse so that all actions taken today are to secure against doom and gloom tomorrow. On the other hand, there are those where the future is something that will take care of itself with little or no effort on their part. (Whether that will actually happen or not, of course, remains to be seen.) Still, a third type of individual exists, the kind who appears to be living a rich and full present while feeling comfortable about their plan for the future. As I have a tendency to deny fun today in lieu of a more secure future – even without guarantee – I wanted to know more about this third type of person.

Your time orientation time may provide the understanding.

Those who have a future time orientation are less likely to engage in risky behaviors (e.g., gambling, aggressive investing, etc.). Their focus is on the future so that decisions today are for the benefit of the future. This sounds responsible, but if exclusively focused on the future, you’re gonna’ miss out on a lot of today. Then there is the person with a present time orientation. This is the one who lives for today, enjoying whatever comes along. While I envy this sort at certain times, making all decisions based on what feels good today could have some repercussions tomorrow.

Alright, so how to blend the two?

I’ll be honest here that there isn’t a lot out there on the perfect recipe. One article, Past, Present, Future - Does Time Orientation Influence Procrastination?, in Psychology Today, by Timothy A. Pychyl, Ph.D., an associate professor of psychology at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, offers an interesting examination of this under the topic of procrastination. He writes:

To the extent that we find ourselves thinking things like, "My life path is controlled by forces I cannot influence," we are now aware that this thinking may contribute to our task avoidance. Similarly, if we find ourselves thinking things like, "I am not able to resist temptations when I know that there is work to be done," or even, "Taking risk keeps my life from becoming boring," we should recognize that we're vulnerable to impulsive decisions to delay now and pay later. I think of these sorts of thoughts as "flags." They should serve to signal us that we're about to undermine our own plans and goals. They should be signals that we need to bring our conscious awareness to the choices at hand so that we are not simply victims of our habits.

I think I will start by noticing these flags.

Do you know the times of day you are at your best?

When we talk about a biological clock, we often think in terms of a woman’s limited time to reproduce. This definition is not so far afield when we compare this to the hours in the day when we are most apt to produce our best work.

I hadn’t given this topic much thought until a former boss asked me for my assistance on a project. He prefaced the request by asking what hours of the day I felt I was most creative. It didn’t take much time for me to answer as I know my optimum performance occurs from early morning to noon, subsides for approximately 3 hours, and is followed by another peak period that runs through 10-11 PM. During these times, I am at my best, with clarity of thought and vision, able to produce solutions to complex problems, am more optimistic, and, though some may disagree, feel I write better. Lest you think I may be napping during my lower performance period, in actuality, this is when I try to do other activities that still need to be done (i.e., make/return phone calls, drive, file, lunch, etc.) but don’t require maximum brain power to accomplish. Think of this in terms of best managing your time.

A number of employers are beginning to recognize the importance of crafting work schedules to take advantage of the timeframes in which employees do their best work. Researchers conducting studies on links between employee behavior and flexible work hours resulted in an employee’s greater commitment to their employer and higher job satisfaction. Read more on this subject. While there is discussion as to who is behind the 8 am – 5pm workday and why it was set-up that way, employers – and their employees – may actually reap greater benefits when employees are encouraged to work when they are most productive.