Get Into The Groove [video]

My thought today isn’t about an iconic song from 1985, but rather the passage of time. Talking about 1985 - it's interesting how the days of our youth seem to stretch and encompass so much, yet as time passes, that perception flips and we wonder,

“Where the hell did the time go?!”

That’s been my cry a little too much lately.

As we age, the days seem shorter, but it's getting a little ridiculous for me now. Especially seeing as I don't feel like this should be happening at my age. I was expecting to feel this way another 30 years from now.

Wondering where the same time I experience versus a middle schooler goes prompted me to do a little research.

I like it when I type something into a search engine and a listing stands out not because it’s at the top of the stack. It's happening less and less these days. Have you noticed that when you type keywords into any major search engine [depending on the topic] you get a mass of way too similar results? Where have all the dissenting voices gone? I could talk about censorship a little too much so I'll stop.

And get back on track.

Wondering if time has sped up, led me to this article stating there is evidence that our perception of time has sped up thanks to smartphones. That was almost nine years ago so you can imagine that with the tech we have now, the perception has intensified. And as it is our perception, the good news is — we can also perceive it differently.

Being surrounded by tech does make that tricky though. Sometimes I wonder what my work day and business would look like if I wasn’t as connected. And how that could even work for me long-term as a digital marketer.

I was recently chatting with a friend about time, and that aging is like a 33 RPM vinyl record where the inner and outer tracks are different sizes — youth being the first few tracks, and old age the last few. And thinking about how a record plays sound at the same pace even though the diameter of the vinyl shrinks towards the centre.

It’s all about the grooves.

The past few weeks had me creating grooves. Getting off autopilot as much as possible and being extra mindful about tasks, for both work and play. It meant that more time had been accounted for, and how it was spent, was more memorable.

It’s a daily challenge because there’s the tendency to go, go, go — but when I take a different route to a familiar place or use the Pomodoro Technique to work on one thing at a time or put my iPhone in black and white mode, I’m being more mindful with how I am interacting in time.

There are many other ways we can create grooves and put more space into how we perceive our travel through time each day. Spending less time with tech, with SMART anything, is a great start. If you’re like me and have been wondering where all your time goes, think about where can you turn off autopilot, be more mindful and present, and create some grooves in your day.

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