Learning to feel time

[Anonymous]

I’ve always said I don’t “feel” time like most people. 5 minutes can feel like 30 seconds or 3 hours and feel like 5 minutes. It’s worse when you get into the weeks and years. I’m 35 now and am left wondering where in hell did my time go?

I was thinking of some wearable metronome that pulses every second or minute. Knowing what a second really “feels” like may help our perceptions of it’s passage.

Any ides as to where get something like this?

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[Sean E Bravo]

If you have an iphone there’s a metronome app. Drummers in bands use a thing called a “click track” to keep time too. I’m lost with time as well, if I’m not happy with my task, then minutes feel like hours…if I love it, I’m late for something else. Even my 8 year old daughter knows now to give me a 10 minute warning for things

I set timers in my iphone, I call them “DO IT” timers..usually they just give me a 5 minute warning so I’m reminded to keep on schedule and get ready for the next part of my day.

As for feeling time the same as others, I don’t think that’s possible, but if you figure out a way to do it let me know

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[Anonymous]

@ShaneG you’re not alone there. I get the same thing. Some days, I look up from what I’m doing and think “it must be like 2:00,” and it’s not even 10:30. Other days, I think “that didn’t take long, time for lunch.” It’s 3:00 and the cafeteria is closed. ><

Einstein (also ADD) said: when you talk to a pretty girl, an hour seems like a minute. When you put your hand on a hot stove, a second seems like an hour. That’s relativity.

Maybe we’re all just moving so fast, time slows down around us. Or, if you’re like me, your BMI creates a relativistic effect on space-time. That, or it’s the dopamine thing again.

PS, I love the avatar Shane!

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[Anonymous]

@Sean E Bravo: i was thinking of that but it’d be too easy to tune out. Plus imagine walking along clicking or beeping every second lol PPL will think you’re going to explode. LOL

I was thinking of like a vibrating/pulsing pendant or bracelet that you can set. That way you literally “feel time”. You know have it pulse every second and give a stronger pulse at the minute and hour marks…

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[Anonymous]

Hmm Maybe a LilyPad Vibe Board (DIY electronics thingie) would be a good start. I may just do this thing! lol

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[Anonymous]

Maybe try going the other way. Before we met, my wife spent about 8 months living in Australia, 3 months of that was spent wandering around the bush with no technology. One of the things she learned to do was to tell time by feel. Up until a few years ago, she could still do it with astounding accuracy (even when the sun was not out).

You probably don’t want to spend 3 months in the bush, but maybe a weekend camping would be a good start.

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[nellie]

Shane the psychologist who did my ADD diagnosis had this exercise a few times where she would get me to guess when 10 minutes had gone by since, as Pete already said, ADD and time issues are pretty common. Maybe you can try this with a family member or friend. I also bought a digital watch with a chronograph, timer, alarm etc. I use it to time random things. Since I’m impatient and even put off going to the gas station because I think it takes to long, I timed how long it takes to get gas a few times. Surprisingly I think it was under 3 minutes and I thought it would be at least ten! Now I know if I’m in a rush it’s not going to take all that long and I can quench my impatience! Actually I find it’s quite fun to time things and I’m getting better at estimating how long things take.

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[Anonymous]

I just started using a stopwatch timer to time certain things I do for my business. I still can’t estimate things, but at least I now know that if I sit down to do a particular task, it will take this long. Not that I will ever, ever manage to do it in that amount of time … the toilet might need to be cleaned when I go to pee, or the dishes might need washing when I go to get a glass of water, or – hey! what’s that car coming down the street? Never seen one that colour – hey! It’s a new Fiat 500! I want one of those !!!!

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[Anonymous]

Thanks for the input. I had a stopwatch that I would literally wear around my neck with my swipe card for work. It got used so much that the buttons got too hard to press. The next one I got didn’t last long. It’ didn’t hang right in my lanyard so it went in my pocket.

Even with a stopwatch, I’d forget to look at it or sometimes set it.

My goal is going to be to try to teach my brain what the passage of time feels like. Most people would be happy being blind to time passing but it bothers me. it goes beyond just not keeping track of time or being late all the time.

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[Anonymous]

@shaneG, my wife got one of these as a promotional item once: http://www.epromos.com/product/8813972.html

I didn’t use it (not my thing), I thought it was cool.

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[Anonymous]

So I went from the stopwatch to finding out why they call it a carabiner, to rappelling to youtube videos of failed rappelling attempts (funny) to how does that rig work to what’s this Aussie Repelling to “HOLY CRAP, man I wish I could try that.” Ah, the internet–hard core distractability delivered by Cat5 wire.

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[Anonymous]

I have an analog carabiner watch (bought at Mark’s Work Wearhouse) – it’s useful for timing yoga poses when I teach. But you can’t replace the battery on it, so every 3 years I have to buy a new one. They’re not terribly well made, sometimes the timer button will just fall off, so if you buy one, give it hell in the store before you take it home.

I use a carabiner for my keys, and I have a Mountain Equipment Coop document bag (a small pouch that has a shoulder strap large enough to sling it over my opposite shoulder). I clip the carabiner to my bag so that I can’t get into my car or house without remembering the bag. And the bag is big enough that if I can’t find my keys, I’m sure to find the bag. I have a wicker basket with a lid (aka laundry basket) by the front door and that’s where it goes when I come inside, so I know where to find it when I leave. If any of those things go awry, I am lost!

Ok, back to this post’s topic: I used a timer to time 15 minute segments all day long, and not one 15 minute segment felt the same as another. I still have no clue what 15 minutes feels like, but I know what I got done today, and managed to stay on track (I was afraid of what my task timer chart would have looked like otherwise), so that’s a positive. Going to give it a go again tomorrow!

I have a digital watch that can beep on the hour, but I am really good at ignoring the beep. Sometimes it’s because the beep is too faint to hear, but other times it’s because my mind is going “yeah, yeah, just a minute – I’m busy doing something else right now” 😡

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[Evelyn]

I have been using the timer on my kitchen stove to time the washer cycle. It never failed that the washer would quit and I wouldn’t notice the silence. So the clothes would stay in the washer too long, then need to be rewashed. The timer on my kitchen stove will keep beeping two quick beeps every minute, until I physically stop what I’m doing and turn it off.

When I remember to use it, it works wonders!

I have also used it when I really need to do something at a certain time (in the not too distant future) but want to do something else while I’m waiting, like read or work on the computer. So far it has worked well. I have even used it as a procrastination timer. Like when I put off doing something, like the dishes, or cutting vegetables for dinner. I’ll set the timer for 15 min. or a half hour, then when the timer goes off, the task I put off has had a chance to infect my brain and I usually do it.

…Yes I have reset the timer, sometimes more than once, but I did not completely forget the task.

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[Anonymous]

@Evelyn and others,

Love the 15 minutes thing. I can concentrate at least for that long! Many years ago, long before taking meds and knowing about ADD, I read a book written by Fly Lady about getting your home and your life in order. Title is: «Sink reflections. Overwhelmed? Disorganized? Living in Chaos?». My copy dates back to 2002 but maybe it’s been re-edited since. She said you can do anything for 15 minutes, with the help of a timer. She explains that clutter makes you prisoner of your home and brings you CHAOS: Can’t Have Anyone Over Syndrome. Let me illustrate with a non-fictional personal experience: A good friend of mine with a heavenly clean home once came (unannounced) knocking at my door with a friend of hers. She wanted to get a house similar to mine in the area and would like to come inside just to see how they’re built. Guess what? I told my friend my house was such a mess. I’d be too embarrassed to let a stranger in. Please come back in 2 days and in the future, please give me a few days notice!

10 years later, it hasn’t improved much, but I’m working on it, though I don’t quite know where to start. I get discouraged just by looking at the mess. I realize clutter makes me unhappy and dream of a zen home, clutter free. I know I’ll have to work at it one shelf/drawer at a time, then one room at a time. I know what to do. Now I have to get moving and do it. Thanks for your post, it reminded me I had this book hidden somewhere. It’s a miracle I was even able to find it! I’m on my way to set my timer for 15 minutes. I’ll keep you posted.

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[ipsofacto]

My daughter is 15 and often wants friends to come over. She’ll normally text me from school and then I look around at the kitchen, living room, and TV room, aaaaaargh. Recently I couldn’t figure out why some bowls and pans were missing, but then I found a box in the garage where I had hid the dirty dishes in a panicked clean up a few weeks before.

As to time, a few years ago I stopped wearing a watch as it seems so many people use their phones to check the time these days. Now I have been diagnosed and understand myself better, I realize what a mistake that was. I just have to get used to using a watch again.

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