Let’s imagine that my sofa is a time machine and it rapidly transported us back in time. Can you take it to a place in the past where you and your husband were getting along well?

What were you guys doing that made you feel that things were better then between the both of you?  Was there any activity that the both of you did together that was really fun that you would like to perhaps do again in the future?

We are all time travelers: We draw on past memories, experience the present and look forward to future rewards. But how easily we travel back and forth makes a crucial difference to how well we do in life and how happy we are while we’re living it.

Our time perspective — whether we tend to get stuck in the past, live only for the moment, or are enslaved by our ambitions for the future — can predict everything from educational and career success to general health and happiness.

Zimbardo’s theory animated by RSA Animate

What’s Your Type?

Stanford University psychology professor emeritus Philip Zimbardo coined the idea the time perspective. In his new book The Time Paradox Zimbardo identified five key approaches to time. These are:

1. The ‘past-negative’ type. You focus on negative personal experiences that still have the power to upset you. This can lead to feelings of bitterness and regret.

2. The ‘past-positive’ type. You take a nostalgic view of the past, and stay in very close contact with your family. You tend to have happy relationships, but the downside is a cautious, “better safe than sorry” approach which may hold you back.

3. The ‘present-hedonistic’ type. You are dominated by pleasure-seeking impulses, and are reluctant to postpone feeling good for the sake of greater gain later. You are popular but tend to have a less healthy lifestyle and take more risks.

4. The ‘present-fatalistic’ type. You aren’t enjoying the present but feel trapped in it, unable to change the inevitability of the future. This sense of powerlessness can lead to anxiety, depression, and risk-taking.

5. The ‘future-focused’ type. You are highly ambitious, focused on goals, and big on making ‘to do’ lists. You tend to feel a nagging sense of urgency that can create stress for yourself and those around you. Your investment in the future can come at the cost of close relationships and recreation time.

All five types come into play in our lives at some point, but there probably will be one or two directions in which you are more focused. Identify these and you can start developing a more flexible, healthier approach.

Take the ZTPI Test! Take the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory and find out your time perspective scores.

Reference

Zimbardo P. and Boyd J. Putting Time in Perspective: A Valid, Reliable Individual-Difference Metric. The Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol. 77, 1999, pp. 1271-88.