I recently had to help a Chinese friend figure out when she was to check in to a webinar. It was listed as "[time]PDT", as well as "[time]GMT-8". She was baffled. I didn't even notice the two times. Clearly, it was coming from a PDT location, so I translated the time into China time for her, and then she asked what the GMT-8 thing meant. It hadn't dawned on me that a third of the world's population has absolutely no understanding of time zones. I still don't think she believes me that they are both the same time!
Sunday, April 22nd was my niece's 6th birthday. On the morning of April 22nd, I called to say happy birthday. That was at 9pm on the 21st, for her. When I told her it was already her birthday in China, I could hear her brain explode. "WHaHaAt?!" with a little giggle somewhere in the middle of the "what".
I time-travel regularly when I talk with family or friends.
As I mentioned in my Lagging Behind post, I'm actually ahead of the AtoZ challenge, time-wise. This is both good and bad. It means that I'm finishing my daily post early, and usually, I'm fairly early in the link-up, too. Good! But bad, because a lot of the blogs that I found early and enjoy are not linked up at the time I'm linking, so I miss them as I click on the ones in the link-up list. Once or twice I've just gone to the master list to try to catch up, but then that takes extra time, and time is precious, is it not?
Everyone complains of lack of time, yet we all have the same amount of it. The best wisdom I've been given was from an older lady I worked with early after college. She was trying to get me to join a ladies church group, and I said I don't have time. She countered with.
"You have time for what you make time for."That has stuck with me for my whole life. I wish I could tell her the impact her words had on me. I no longer use the excuse "I don't have time." If I don't want to do something, I will usually explain in all honesty why not. If I simply don't want to, the inviter can't counter with anything of value! Of course, sometimes we have to be kind and make an excuse.
Do you have enough time? I feel I'm pretty good at time management, but I'd love to hear your time management tips in the comments.
(If you're visiting from A to Z, please include the name of your blog as it is on the Master List so I can return the favor!)
I like this post! Thoughtful comments about time, which is such a huge topic, especially these days. Using time as an excuse has bothered me for awhile. Glad you just say what you really feel about using your time for something...or not. We can all read between the lines anyway. Fun story about your niece. I'm a list maker (N post for notes) & pretty good about prioritizing them. Also the old saying "time expands to the work allotted to it" plays a roll. On any given day time speeds up or slows down depending on the urgency or desire to do things. I can disappear in a creative project for hours & blink in wonder when I look at the clock.
ReplyDeletePulp Paper & Pigment-My Fiber Art Blog
My problem is when I want to cancel plans due to depression. Only my husband knows I suffer with this, so I'm left saying "I'm not well" which is technically true. But if you use illness as an excuse too often people just think you're sickly and offer to take you to the doctor!
DeleteI'm in Australia and our time seems to be ahead of most countries too. It's funny you mentioned China time because I read that there was only one time zone there the other day (mind blowing) Maybe they are onto something because I can't understand how India can be close in time and Canada is a whole day behind me - just weird!
ReplyDeleteLeanne | www.crestingthehill.com.au
T for Take Control
That crazy IDL. Most people in the States don't even know there is such a thing as the International Date Line. I've crossed it enough that I should have no problem with time! But in the end I downloaded the World Time Buddy app to help me with all these zones.
DeleteRed,
ReplyDeleteYou made me laugh with your line that your Chinese friend might still not believe you that the two times were the same. I didn't know that China has only one time zone. I have this love/hate relationship with time. When it's not a good time like dead of winter or mid-summer then I'm ready for the time to speed up so the next season arrives. When it comes to tasks, if it's something I enjoy like the A2Z event then I nearly drop everything to make sure I have my posts done ahead so I can keep up better. Things I don't want to do, I just drag my feet on and get to it whenever I finally force myself to get with the program. I like the piece of advice the older woman gave you because it really is the truth. Thanks for sharing and happy A2Zing!
~Curious as a Cathy
A2Z iPad Art Sketch 'T' Turtle Couple
I have mixed thoughts about China Time, too. On the one hand, I have always said, "Time is a man-made construct." which is true, and to arbitrarily draw a line and say, "this is this; that is that" always bugged my sense of ... something. So I was excited that China is one zone. Yes! Let people in each area adjust their schedules. Get up at 10am with the sunrise! And GOD BLESS THEM for eschewing Daylight Savings!
DeleteBut then, Beijing, on the Eastern edge of the country, should really, according to my American sense of time, be about an hour earlier. I wake at 5am with the sun. Ugh.
My son is in New Zealand and it took a while for my brain to comprehend that he was a day ahead of me. It seems like magic--not the good kind, but the kind where I'm always trying to catch up and he's always in tomorrow! Melanie's Stories
ReplyDeleteThe weirdest was when we came over here. We moved to Beijing from EDT - exactly 12 hours behind Beijing. But we took a week's vacation with friends in Oregon before the long trans-Pacific flight. PDT is actually 15 hours behind Beijing. But we were closer geographically, so it should be less time, right?
DeleteWorld Time Buddy app. That's my solution.
A third of the world's population has no concept of time zones? My mind is blown.
ReplyDeleteLiving on the west coast of the US, I have the opposite problem. I am late to the game every day.
(Hopefully the spotty wifi won't eat this comment. Fingers crossed.)
Liz from Laws of Gravity #510
Technically, China has between a quarter and a third of the world's population, so I slightly exaggerated.
DeleteI have never resided on the West Coast. That would really mess with me, since that is not just the West Coast of the US, but really, the west coast of the entire "western world" - including Europe.
It is hard to wrap your mind around what time it is and what date it is on the other side of the world or even across the country. I never realized that China was just one time zone! What a difference in sunrise and sunset times it must be from one side of the country to the other.
ReplyDeleteI never have enough time to do everything I would like to do! It's always about making choices and setting priorities . . . and hopefully the things that matter most will rise to the top.
Beijing, on the east side of China, is actually, I feel an hour later than it should be. According to the sun. I spent years waking with the sun when I lived in Delaware, so I have a sense of when sunrise should be. It's too early here. Which means that a bit to our west is probably spot on with the rest of the world!
Delete