Perception of Time ?
Based on anecdotal evidence, I conclude that MY perception of time and perception of fulfillness is driven by how many milestone or notable things (either good or bad) that happened to me in a span of time.
For example, while looking at back, I perceived 2021 as a long year, it was mostly because of :
- I changed jobs 2 times — resulting 3 offices at the span of a year. 1 voluntarily, the other one due to downsizing and they defer wages — something that I cannot afford at that time.
- I was doing my master degree and need to do field research for my thesis. In total around 2 weeks of doing several FGDs and a lot more time on documents to make study out of that FGDs.
- Doing my thesis. It’s still in Indonesia, but it was still dong master’s degree thesis nonetheless.
While looking back at 2022, it is almost passing at lightningspeed. It was almost the same for 2018 to 2020, except when I bought some pricey peripherals and coffee equipment as a milestone.
While having this hypothesis, in a daily situation, I think one of the factors to achieve a fulfilling week or day is to do something memorable at the end of the respective timeframe. This can be scaled accordingly.
(Imaginary) Example:
- Fulfilling day is achieved if you complete your work items
- Fulfilling week is achieved if you’ve spent time together eating out with family or to find time for your hobby
- Fulfilling month is achieved if you’ve spent X times doing yyyy
- Fulfilling year is achieved if you’ve traveled to x places this year
- Fulfilling decade is achieved if you’ve made X amount of money
On how to define those metrics, I suggest to take a deep look at yourself and if it is something really meaningful to you. Achieving small wins is also something that will keep you going day by day.
So, how’s your perception of time ?