Sense of Time

It seems some people do not have a sense of time as to how long things take.

These people are usually late. I don't like living like that.

One night I had my kids at my place. My ex-wife said she was doing something and wouldn’t be able to pick up the kids until later, probably after 11:00 p.m.

She said that I should have them start to sleep at my place. That was fine with me. At 12:15 a.m. she called to say she was on her way to pick up the kids. She said in about 15 minutes. She didn’t arrive until 1:30 a.m., a full hour after she said she was coming.

Doesn’t that seem way out of line? She just has no clue how long things take and how long it takes to drive somewhere.

My father, on the other hand, hasn’t worn a watch his whole life. Yet he has never been late for anything, he is usually early but not excessively early. He gets a lot done and is quite happy.

I asked him how he could be this way. He said he just starts from a known time and calculates in his mind how much time has elapsed to determine what time it is now. He is not always looking at a clock or asking others what time it is, he just knows within 5 or 10 minutes, always.

He has a great sense of how long things take. He has an understanding of how long it takes to do anything he is trying to do and how long it will take to get anywhere. His mother, my grandmother, was famous for being early. Once she was coming to my house in Milwaukee to visit me, my wife and baby son.

She said that she would be getting to our house at noon on Saturday. She showed up at noon on Friday and left by noon on Saturday.

She actually left before she was to arrive. She was 24 hours early.

This wasn’t just a communication mix-up; it was just her being very early.

It is very important to have a good sense of how long things take in order to avoid unnecessary stress in your life. If you think it only takes a few minutes to get someplace when it actually takes much longer, you are always going to be running late and be under stress.

People who don't have a good sense of how long things take miss deadlines at work. They are usually running around all very busy and hectic with a chaotic life. They have to make excuses why the work is late or stay up all night trying to finish.

They will have to rush to get something done and then not be happy with the results.

There may be occasions where you will have to work under stress and high pressure.

I just like to get to the point where that is minimized. I try to have things done early and can do most of my work without being under a lot of stress.

Since I avoid this type of stress I find I have some excess capacity to work under stress and tight deadlines when I need to.

If you are always late and under stress during normal days then you will fall apart when you really need to get things done. Like when you:

1. Have a deadline at work.

2. Are getting ready for a special event.

3. Have a new baby.

4. Have a medical emergency.

5. Are in a natural disaster.

There have been periods during my life where I lived and worked under stress for months. I found being that way to be exhausting and stressful.

I just don't like it and look for ways to avoid it like having a good sense of time.

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