A Geography of Time

A Geography of Time: The Temporal Misadventures of a Social Psychologist by Robert Levine, my summary:

1. There is "event-drive" time (the human default) and "clock-driven" time (a comparatively recent development)
2. Perception of time varies tremendously from culture to culture, from individual to individual, and even within the individual in different situations
3. Stress is caused not so much by a fast pace or a lack of time as by an inappropriate fit between the individual's temperament and their environment, or hard-driving competitiveness and hostility, or the inability to smoothly shift from event-driven time to clock-driven time and back as the situation warrants
4. It's fine to be "type A" a.k.a. "perpetually activated:" Abiding by clock time and "doing more" can be very rewarding but(!) is not morally superior and certainly not the world-wide standard
5. Americans work too much and leave a ridiculous amount of vacation on the table

2016-08-05

By Val Delane
This work is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0