Time Perception & Behavioural Change

Time is a continuous dimension of your existence, influencing your thoughts, emotions, and actions. Yet, the perception of time is not uniform, it varies from person to person and can even change within an individual based on context and experience. In the profession of Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP), understanding how you perceive time provides profound insights into your behaviours and offers exciting, new pathways for personal development.

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Time perception is an intrinsic part of human experience, essential for daily functioning and survival. It enables you to sequence events, anticipate future occurrences, and reflect on past experiences. Your perception is inherently subjective and malleable, influenced by various factors including emotions, attention, and individual differences. Studies have shown that your sense of time can be distorted, for example, during high stress situations, time may seem to slow down, while during periods of joy, it may appear to fly by. This fluidity suggests that time perception is not a fixed construct, it is a dynamic experience shaped by your internal and external environments.

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NLP offers a framework to explore how you organise and relate to time, primarily through the concepts of ‘in-time’ and ‘through-time’ perceptions. These orientations describe how people mentally arrange their experiences and how this arrangement influences their behaviour. Let’s take a look at both orientations and their impacts on your behaviour…

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In-Time Orientation

Individuals with an in-time orientation are deeply immersed in the present moment. They experience time in a linear fashion, with a strong focus on current events, often at the expense of past experiences or future plans. This focus on the present allows for them to experience rich, immediate input form the world around them. At the same time, this perception of time can sometimes lead to challenges in long term planning, timeliness or the ability to reflect on valuable lessons learned in the past.

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In-time thinkers are often spontaneous, embracing opportunities as they arise without over analysing potential future consequences. They adapt quickly to changing circumstances, thriving in dynamic environments where immediate action is required. Long term projects or commitments may feel restrictive, and these individuals might struggle with setting and adhering to future goals.

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Through-Time Orientation

Through-time thinkers perceive time panoramically, seeing the past, present, and future as interconnected. They can easily shift their focus across different time periods, allowing for comprehensive planning and reflection. This broader perspective aids in understanding the long term implications of actions and in learning from past experiences.

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Through-time people excel in setting long term goals and developing step-by-step plans to achieve them. They reflect on past experiences to inform present decisions, minimising the likelihood of repeating mistakes. A strong focus on structure and future outcomes can sometimes lead to inflexibility, making it challenging to adapt to unexpected changes.

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Your orientation toward time significantly influences various aspects of daily life, including your work habits, relationships, and personal wellbeing.

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In-Time thinkers may excel in roles that require quick decision making and adaptability, such as emergency response or creative fields where spontaneity is valued. They might find it challenging to meet long term deadlines or engage in detailed planning. Whilst through-time thinkers are well suited to roles that involve strategic planning, project management, and tasks requiring sustained attention over time. Their ability to foresee future challenges allows them to mitigate risks effectively.

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The perception of time can have a significant impact on your relationships. In-Time thinking and its focus on the present makes you an engaging companions, fully attentive during interactions. You may also overlook the importance of future planning in relationships, such as setting long term goals or remembering significant dates, even being on time for meetings or dates can be challenging.

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Through-Time perception can bring stability to relationships through careful planning and consideration of future implications. Yet, your focus on structure can sometimes make you less spontaneous, potentially leading to perceptions of rigidity.

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Understanding your time orientation is the first step toward achieving a balanced perspective. NLP offers several techniques to help you flexibly navigate between in-time and through-time orientations, enhancing your personal effectiveness and wellbeing. Cultivating the ability to shift between in-time and through-time perspectives allows you to harness the strengths of both orientations.

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One technique is to visualise your personal timeline, positioning past events, present experiences, and future goals spatially. By mentally traversing this timeline, you can gain insights into how past experiences influence present behaviour and how current actions can shape future outcomes.

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Anchoring involves associating a specific physical action or gesture with a desired mental state. For instance, an in-time individual seeking to enhance future planning skills might anchor the feeling of strategic foresight to a particular gesture, enabling easier access to this mindset when needed. For those with a through-time orientation, learning to engage more fully with the present can enhance spontaneity and reduce future oriented anxiety. In NLP, you can learn the skill of Sensory Acuity, a process of noticing everything, to keep you more grounded in the present moment and creating a deeper connection to current experiences.

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The most affective means of changing your perception of time is to move the orientation of your time Line. NLP teaches you how to change your perception of time by moving the visualisation of the direction of your past and future. This simple, yet powerful exercise, allows you to experience the value of both orientations of your time line and gain the ability to choose your desired perception depending on your context and environment. For example, you may prefer through-time thinking at work, so you can be on time for meetings and appointments and plan your day and then in-time when you get home so you can be more present and spontaneous, without keeping an eye on the time.

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Whilst your perception of time does characterise your behaviour, NLP offers you the gift of flexibility and choice.

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