Home
Artists
Search Recent Random
Posts
Search DMs Popular Hash Lookup Tags Random
Importer
Import FAQ
Register
Partychan Telegram ThePornDude
Home Artists Posts Import Register

How do *you* see time? (Patreon)

Published:
2022-03-14 16:44:56
Imported:
2023-02

Content

Hello brains & hearts! 

Time for another book question! If you can, please try to remember to let us know if we can quote you, and how you'd like to be quoted (such as by a specific name, or as "anonymous".)

*Drumroll*

How do you see time?

Let us know everything you've got to say about this in the comments below! 😄

Comments

Anonymous

I love the description (I can't remember who originally said it) that 'time is what stops everything from happening all at once' That's kind of how I see it - some kind of concept our human brains make up to give context and order to our experiences. I mean, I'm sure it exists outside of us too, but not in a way we can really comprehend. (*ahem* - you probably didn't want a philosophical essay there, did you?) For myself, I sometimes feel like I can get a grasp on time passing IF I keep cues around me: the clock on my phone or watch easily visible, a countdown timer on my screen if I'm trying to do a work interval, and ALL THE ALARMS EVER for important appointments plus sequences of pre-appointment milestones (when I remember to set them). Plus, with a lot of tracking and data gathering, I'm gradually getting better at estimating how long CERTAIN jobs will take me (although I still tend to underestimate, and get swayed by how long I think it "should" take a normal person to do something, rather than what my data has clearly shown that it's likely to take me) But I have to be really deliberate about staying aware of time in both situations - if I forget or just don't have the resources to put the mental effort into managing it, time-blindness is a real issue for me. (Happy to be quoted in the book)

Anonymous

Interesting question! Time has been one of my biggest struggles as I'm working to optimize after being diagnosed in my late 30s. Here's my fast take, happy to be quoted (and in perpetuity)... I see time literally, with my Time Timer! Seriously, though, time has always been this existential truth that doesn't interface natively with my brain. It's a second language, maybe like Spanish. If I'm speaking Spanish, I'm focusing so much effort on getting the sentence structures, words, and conjugations right, and there isn't capacity left to plan the next part of my story (a joke? hah!). Side note: This is a really interesting metaphor to me, because our brains think mostly in our native tongues. The actual magic of our brains is their ability to build tools/constructs (like a language, math, or time) to achieve some goal, and then layer these concepts and ideas in ways that build exponentially. The language we are taught after birth and how we are interacted with sets a foundation for everything we will learn and do. Two people that natively speak two very different languages (e.g. English and Chinese) have some structurally different ways of thinking based on the mechanisms and tools they use to comprehend the world. Back to the point... time isn't one of those languages. If I'm focused on something that maintains my interest, time will fly, because I'm not actively aware of its existence. If I have nothing to do, then time has become the first thing I wonder about when I'm sitting in my body and paying attention to the world around me. I always know where I am, who I am, what I am doing, what I want to be doing, and I can instantaneously process all of those things (in English!)... but I don't know what time it is.

Anonymous

I'm a huge Harry Potter nerd. There's an hourglass in the 6th movie in Professor Slughorn's office - it's only in the movie, not in the book. It was absolutely fascinating to me, though. It's a representation of time based on the feelings of the owner of the hourglass. If someone is enjoying themselves or the conversation, the sand in the hourglass slows down. If someone does not enjoy what they're doing, or is uncomfortable, or experiencing some kind of negative emotion, the sand in the hourglass speeds up, passing time more quickly. The idea being that time moves faster to get them out of the situation more quickly. I view time in a similar way, I guess? When I'm uncomfortable it's like a thought maelstrom in my mind, and everything speeds up. My brain is moving faster than Usain Bolt and I can't keep up with what's going on around me, or focus. But when I'm having fun, or I'm happy, everything slows down, and I feel more comfortable. I'm able to keep track of my thoughts, and I don't feel rushed or hurried, or buffeted by stimuli in a way that I would if I were doing or experiencing something unpleasant. You're welcome to use this for your book if you like. "Lizzie Lane".

Anonymous

Ohh I love this question! It is so interesting. You can quote me. (Kira, 37) I quite literally "see" time in a vague form of time-space synesthesia. However, I cannot feel time passing. The hours in the day for me form something like a sine wave, with midnight on the bottom, noon on the top, moving through the week. Recently I've realized I don't need to keep this solely in my head. If I draw my week as my sine wave and draw / write my schedule on it, it is much easier for me to estimate how much I can do and when, compared to if I try to lay it out top to bottom in a more traditional way. My brain associates the point in the sine wave with my typical energy levels at that time, because any time I look at the clock, my brain translates it into a point on the wave. For this reason, I want to find a 24-hour clock with noon on top to have in my house, because it's the closest thing to what I see naturally! Meanwhile, the calendar runs counterclockwise, and my perspective changes through the year like I'm riding along it, but for the most part, January is the bottom and summer months are across the top. Years run on a line going mostly up and at an angle, but I couldn't tell you what direction the angle is because it's in a three dimensional space that I can look at in different ways. But if you say "July 1963," I see my calendar a ways below me, with an area marked in the top of it (where July is), and the whole calendar is on the spot in my year line where the 1960s are (usually down and to the left from now when facing it - but I can also mind travel to hover near it ... I swear I'm not high). For all of this detailed imagery, it does not help me stick to plans or be on time, because I do not *feel* time passing. When I hyperfocus, my brain thinks time stops. And I can tell you, I quite literally think I'm in the same place on my sine wave until I check the clock again! And if I try to maintain a sense of time, I can't focus on anything else. Additionally, I can't remember how long ago things happened, even if I once saw it on my mind calendar, because of working memory issues. So while I have an elaborate concept of time and it can help me remember future appointments if I take a moment to visualize them, it is very abstract and I can't connect it to me, here, now. For that I need timers and calendar alerts. One new thing I'm trying now, that seems to be slightly helping with the sense of time, is to run a pomodoro timer even when I'm not doing something that takes a lot of focus. Basically, on the 25 minute "focus" session, I make sure to be intentional about what I'm doing, even if some would consider it a break (e.g. eating lunch). Then the 5 minute breaks are brain breaks, in which I stop trying to rein it in, or dictate what the break can be - I simply let it go free. My body is slowly learning A) what I can do in 25 minutes (and what it feels like doing different types of things) and B) what 2 hours feels like (4 tomatoes!). And bonus... letting my brain do what it wants to do for 5 minutes seems to give me a tiny dopamine boost! Maybe one day I'll connect the pomodoros with my brain pictures of time, which will be golden - but I'm not holding my breath!

Jennifer Levenbook

Good question! I just explained this to my partner. I break time down into 5 categories on a continuum. They are... AGO (Not Now but the historic kind) ... BEFORE (Not Now but like within the past week probably) ... NOW ... SOON (Not Now but within the next week aspirationally) ... NOT NOW (for a long time in the future or maybe never) I tell him that when it comes to productive action there is only NOW and NOT NOW. If I don't do it NOW, I might never do it even if I can ballpark what kind of NOT NOW I'm aspiring to do the thing at. When it comes to memories, I can more pinpoint what kind of NOT NOW there is. I've made my peace with having to be a productive creature of the NOW. I clear things off my plate and delegated, asked someone else to be responsible for following up with me instead of me checking back in with them, or responded and closed them out with a dazzling speed that leaves others I've worked with agog. (Apparently neurotypicals do things like "sit on it" or "let it simmer" or "think about it". I know not why they do these things.) Professionally, it's been really cool. In my home, the amount of NOT NOW organizing has led to my house looking cluttered but I just don't have people over and thus problem solved. Hope that helps. Feel free to quote me. (Jen, 39)

Anonymous

So since a really young age, i have always pictured age (so time in a way) as a staircase that goes up and up and up, and each year i take a step up. But in retrospect i think i always saw my parents above me on the stairs, but not up as many stairs as there were years to be accurate. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Anonymous

I am Sara, you can use my name. I am consistently late. I have to aim for 30 minutes early, to be on time. I constantly have to monitor the time and keep track of it. Because if I get distracted or decide to do something else, I assume will take only 5 minutes..

Anonymous
>>80507796

But I constantly underestimate how long things take. And a 10 minute thing will easily take an hour.

Anonymous

I’ve learned over the years to manage lateness (more often, still not always) by planning to be somewhere ahead of time. For things like work and performances (I’m a singer), I just always shoot for an hour or two ahead of time. That helps me be closer to on time. For things like tasks or meal prep or getting myself ready for a date, etc…,I still have a bad case of magical thinking around time. I am working now on allowing myself time for things to take longer. And I’m working with the folks around me to have grace when I’m running late. (You can use my info, if it’s helpful)

Anonymous

You can use my info…… I have started setting alarms every 30 mins, I am late for everything. At least a blaring alarm makes me check my calendar every 30 mins so that I don’t miss my Teams meetings. Time is something I find very hard to keep track of! It escapes me all the time.

Anonymous

'Time is the enemy I need to keep closer.' (Annie A.) Go ahead - quote me.

Anonymous

I am totally time blind. I set an alarm 10 min before I have to leave the house or call someone otherwise I could forget. I have drove home after working a night shift and forgot to stop to pick my my daughter up. She had requested for me to run her to school, so she could see me quick. My mother called after I was already in bed… needless to say I “forgot” and need to set alarms. It doesn’t matter if it was 5 minutes ago, I forget if I am focused on something else. ( Tasha )

Anonymous

Bing bango, done. Commonly joked about theory on how my estimated time to get work done is. I almost always assume a job will be quicker, but try to push myself to expect the unexpected that could happen and expand the allowed time to complete tasks. Adding in this buffer of time lets me get closer to an actual time of getting something done, in my brain anything I know how to do can be done quickly, except the dishes, and anything else I'm putting off, because that's completely impossible to do without doing more. This makes running my own business difficult, but I rely on those I have that work with me, to balance out my terrible concept of time things take, or at least understand I had good intentions and that I understand once things get going it may just take more time.