5 Interesting Time-Facts

(Note: reading this post should take the average reader 3-4 minutes)

 Learning about Time is one of the best ways to start cherishing it. I recently finished a very good book, called Time: A User's Guide by Stefan Klein (this is the Amazon link) and it completely transformed my thinking about time. Actually, it's one of the reasons I started this Blog.
I want to share with you some of the key-points that I picked up about experiencing and using time. If you're interested in how to make time move slower, or how to enjoy every moment to the fullest, then by all means, read on!

1. Every cell a tiny clock
Every part of our body, every single cell, is governed by a sort of biological clock. It knows exactly when to do what. If you lock up a person in a cave without access to daylight or a clock (and yes, they have done this before, several times!), then their body will start running off of a biological clock of about 25 hours.


2. Time speeds up as we grow older
In our day to day lives, it seems as if time keeps running faster and faster. Stefan Klein explains that this is because our impressions of our environment become less and less memorable as we become older. As a child, every experience is new and worth remembering. When we look back in time, there are more memories, and that makes it seem as if there was more time. It's also the reason we remember our childhoods better than later parts in life.


3. Make time slow down
Stefan (by item 3 we're on a first name basis, naturally) suggests trying to be as much 'in the moment' as possible. Not such a novel idea. Mindfulness is an ancient Buddhist practice of being aware of the moment. Stefan Klein explains that the reason 5 minutes seem long when you're waiting for the bus, is that we take in everything at that time. We're in the moment (even if we're annoyed, irritated and stressed). If you focus on the good moments with the same intensity, they will last longer now and take up more space in your memory. That's why hours in front of the TV always seem like they lasted only minutes in hindsight: your brain didn't register much worth remembering ^^
This blog offers plenty of activities that help you focus on the HERE and NOW!

4. Morning or evening person
Whatever you are, that's what you are. Some people are genetically built to be morning people, others are evening people, and there's little to nothing you can do to change this. Better just learn to deal with it and accept who you are. Then you can find ways to schedule your life to your optimal daily rhythm.


5. Ups and downs
We all have ups and downs during the day that are related to our biological clock. We can't change these patterns, we can only try to work around them. Have you found that you're sleepy right after lunch? Don't plan any important tasks at that time. This could be a good time to do some stuff around the house. Tasks that are basically no-brainers. Write down for one or two days when you feel most awake and energetic, when you feel most focused, and when you'd rather curl up with a book or go to sleep. 
If you have the ability, schedule your tasks around this. The most focused time could be kept for the most demanding tasks, the somewhat less productive time for the routine ones. You catch my drift.

I thought this book was accessible and easy to follow. It might not satisfy the most scientific minds, but it has a lot of background information in case anyone wants to dig deeper.
Learning about how we spend our time and how to make life slow down a little is something that everyone could benefit from!

How do you experience time? Have you ever had the experience that time just flew by? Or that it dragged out forever? Let me know! Comment below! (that rhymes!)

zuì jìn 最近1

1.最近 {zuì jìn} recent; recently, lately, of late, in the near future, soon