(Tip #5 of the series 15 Tips to Support Your Brain for Good Time Management), updated August 30, 2022
Today it’s hard to imagine that waaaaaaay back, around 1982, the digital clock was hot new technology. At that time, people were willing to spend a couple of hundred dollars for a digital watch. I tell this to my younger clients and they look at me in disbelief.
An Insightful Prediction
Despite all the excitement back then over everything digital, there was at least one skeptical voice. I was listening to a National Public Radio interview with an academic (I wish I could remember who!). He made the outrageous statement that the digital clock would be the downfall of civilization.
What??? He pointed out that the digital clock only gives us ONE view of time – the immediate present – the NOW. Whereas the old-fashioned face clock or analog clock gives us THREE views of time. It shows us the past. (“How long have I been working?”) It shows us the present. (“What time is it?”) And it shows us the future. (“How much longer before this meeting is over??”)
For folks with executive functioning time challenges, including those with ADHD, it is critical to have analog clocks constantly in sight in order to be able to see the passage of time since our brain doesn’t keep track of time on itown.
The Moral of the Story
I keep a clock right in front of my computer screen so I don’t lose track of time.
You need analog clocks wherever you tend to lose track of time – next to the computer, the TV, where you do homework or paperwork, and even the shower.
The shower? Yes. On my Cool Tools page there is a link to a shower clock as well as a small analog clock, which can be surprisingly hard to find in stores.
Getting analog clocks into sight is one of the biggest ways to get your time management issues under control. Get several today!
And what about the digital clock and the downfall of civilization? The speaker felt that by only viewing time in the present moment, we’d become a culture focused only on meeting our needs, right now. We’d forget to think about the past and learn from it. We’d ignore the future and forget to plan for it. Hmmm…that holds up!
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