Homo temporalis: The life as a time slot?

The pandemic has substantially altered our personal sense of time, and how time is perceived by society. Many have been surprised to see our culture of maximization and acceleration come to a grinding halt, replaced for a few months by an unwelcome yet wholesome stillness. During lockdown many of us stared up into the blue sky and started to rethink what time means to us as we consider a regenerative lifestyle that includes our work life.

According to data, 40% of all employees want to quit their job or work only part time; and they want to take up meditation. More and more, people are focusing on cultivating serenity, getting good sleep, taking time out.

Stillness and contemplation, once seen as an unproductive waste, have brought about a new feel for time that has now made its way into corporate boardrooms. In recent interviews, executives have talked to us about “deliberate scheduling of non-productive time”, as executives today no longer consider time for pensiveness and informal interaction to be a waste but rather important for reflection and finding and sharing orientation. Thus going forward, time will mean more than a framework within which greater output needs to be generated. Instead, both work and non-work time are to be seen as important for their regenerative value.

"Thus going forward, time will mean more than a
framework within which greater output needs to be generated.
Instead, both work and non-work time are to be seen as important for their regenerative value."

This is of course good for all of us, but there is a competing idea to this concept of time as a source of vital regeneration, and it’s not acceleration – though digitalization has greatly altered our sensibility for time in that regard. The opposing concept is that of “half-life“. Time contingents and deadlines turn everything into a project. Human performance is sectioned up into time slices for evaluation and rewarding. We take on missions of a temporary nature, telling ourselves, “the next five years of my life will be devoted to this important thing, but there will be no extension.” Working for a given company is seen as a linear episode with a fixed ending or expiration point. When that point is reached, the time has arrived for pursuing different options.

SO WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS – FOR PEOPLE AND BRANDS?

But life is not a kanban board, and the temporary nature of agile thinking is increasingly robbing us of our goals, draining us without injecting new energy or meaning by connecting us with ourselves, others or the world at large.

I believe that in today’s rapidly changing times, instead of “holding the line” managers’ task is now to provide space – for a moment’s peace, for communication and for people to develop at their own pace. For iteration and restoration of productivity. Approaching human energy with an awareness of our regenerative needs is the starting point for a wiser, cyclical-restorative understanding of time that is of benefit both in and outside of economic life – let’s make that our resolution for 2022.

This article first appeared in the December 12/21 issue of "absatzwirtschaft".

Read more about the new narrative of life-centered working in this article from Europa Bendig.

Image references: Image 1: "Header" // Image 2: "Break" // Image 3: "Time" // Image 4: "Woman"

Author: Europa Bendig

STURMundDRANG founder and General Manager Europa Bendig has been consulting on innovation processes for NGOs and international enterprises for 18 years, primarily in the luxury goods, health, services, beauty, living and social businesses. She specializes in cultural codes and narratives that give brands and portfolios cultural relevance and promote customer loyalty.