WAYS OF CONSIDERING TIME (I)
When refering to "time"you need to realize
that is a valuable concept, sometimes rigid, sometimes elastic, and
therefore saunters through life. here are a few phases that we use
daily to refer to time: time files, time stops, etc.
In the Modern Business Reports
(MBR) you can see the following ways to consider time:
-
Time
as a master.
-
Time
as an enemy
-
Time
as a mystery
-
Time
as a slave
-
Time as a referee
-
Time as a natural force.
We are now going to briefly analyse
everuone of ways to consider time:
Time as a master
When a person bestows external force and for
example say "the time dictators"wich is not a mere phrase but
a statement or creed in the power that time has over us. If we consider
time this way, we award it power to convert it into the pilot and we
convert in to simple passengers. Other phrases that reflect this type
of attitude are: "it is just a question of time", "time will tell",
"time doesn't wait for anyone".
According to MBR, people that consider
themselves time slaves behave in a specific way. Here are a few
examples:
They stop doing things because it is "too late"or "too early"
Although they really want to do it. For example, depriving yourself
from going to a party or playing a game of cards because it means going
to bed later than normal; or refusing to go to an evening fooball game
that would contibute to making you relaxed, because this would mean
leaving your office earlier than normal.
They
form personal rigid habit without bearing in mind other advantages.
For example, some people wake up at the same time every day,
independently of what they have to do or even if that day they want to
spend more time in bed. Others without fail have lunch at 12 on the dot
everyday even if they aren't hungry.
They tie themselves down to a
predetermined timetable even when doing something against the timetable
will give us great pleasure. An
executive that went to a convention, for example, left a session, even
when he was deeply interested in the topic because the time had run
out. He had estimated how long the session was going to last and as
that time was up he left. Even thought the next session that he was due
to attend was much less important to him. Another executive is
determined to get the 5:45am train every day which means he has to
hurry, he could easily try and stay more calm and take the 5:55 or
06:05 train.
Trust yourself as an indicator more than
others in what is appropriate to do. Some
executives believe that a period of an hour is the right amount of time
for a meeting, it doesn't matter what the topic is or the grade of
importance of the debate. Others feel uncomfortable when long distance
phone calls go on for more than 10 minutes. Even if the call saves a
trip or meeting.
This type of behaviour can help you have an easier life, as you have
less decisions to make. The person can free themselves from
responsabilities simply saying "it doesn't depend on me, but the time".
However, the MBR establishes that there are
lots of inconveniences with this attitude to time. By abdicating the
responsability of making decisions when they come up every minute, the
individual builds barriers around himself which serve as protection
against possible confusions, insecurities, uncertainties and risks; but
they can also restrict the opportunities with other people, with
personal development and even hinder the development of discoveries in
the profession of everyone. When time is the master, other values and
objectives come second place.
Time
as a Enemy
The
MBR claims that when you see time as an enermy, you should prepare
yourself for a battle. We express ourselves with determination in
fighting against the clock, as if we can accumulate minutes and hours.
However, time continues is course.
The MBR establishes the following typical behaviour of people that want
to "win time".
When a person
belives he is in a constant race against time, no matter what the
activity is.
For example, an executive that drives his car every day to work, enjoys
trying to find shorter routes to "establish a record". Or a boss that
tries to carry out a project in an extremely small amount of time, even
if nobody cares about the timing of the project.
"They
fell triumphant when they arrive early and beat when they arrive late".
In this case the
gratification or motification are related in that time is destined. For
example, some executives have the habit of arriving early to meetings,
even though they know they have to wait for everyone else to arrive.
Others feel mortified when they arrive a few minutes late, as they
consider it a lost battle against time.
They judge other people for their
time efficiency in relation to their work.
This is
something that happens often in our daily lives, more often than we can
imagine. The MBR says that when the fight against time adquires a
supreme value, a boss usually, for example, values a colleague that
obtains quicker results than another that analyses things more in depth
until he has found the correct solution. The same boss prefers a
colleague that directs meetings within a certain time frame, more than
others that are more flexible, independent of the results of one or the
other.
To
take to the time since as to an enemy has his pro and hi
against as the MBR.
An
advantage of considering to the time since as to an enemy is that
acicatea the spirit of competition, that many people think that it is
the key of the success. Another attraction is the impulse of winning to
the natural, primary forces, of which the time is our immediate contact.
The
major disadvantage in fighting against the time is, certainly, the
inevitable of the eventual failure.
But there are
also negative immediate consequences. When the mind is almost constant
in state of war, little experiences, few relations, and up to few
achievements and happy moments they can be estimated in its entirety.
It becomes difficult to live in the present when our mind is constant
in state of alert(alert state) being prepared for the near(next)
battle. The satisfactions are passengers and the life loses attraction.
