Time management (idleness or waiting)
Time management (idleness or waiting)
Introduction
Most people don't like waiting, ie
“...Most Americans, 64% of whom have to wait in a line at a business for at least a few times a week, and 2/3 of whom say their predominant emotions while doing so is negative……82% of customers actively avoid going to a business with a line…”
Waitwhile as quoted by Arthur C Brookes, 2024a
Waiting for products and services has negative impacts on customer satisfaction and loyalty; it can be aggravating.
Waiting produces 2 conditions that most humans dislike, ie boredom and lack of autonomy
Boredom has been described as
“...a state in which you fail to find meaning. Standing in line, knowing that you doing so to get or do something but you are forced to spend the time unproductively come up here's what feels meaningless. That can lead to frustration......…annoyance......vexation......discomfort...”
Arthur C Brookes, 2024a
Waiting lowers your sense of autonomy, ie degree of control. As you are unable to change the situation by your behaviour, you can feel very uncomfortable; lack of autonomy is associated with depression.
Furthermore, while you are waiting there is a perception that time seems to slow down.
“...time perception is highly contextual and subjective, and the perceived duration of an experience may seem to stretch out when you are under stress…”
Arthur C Brookes, 2024a
“...This leads to a vicious circle of waiting and frustration: the discomfort from waiting makes the waiting seem to go on longer, and this perceived extended waiting time increases your frustration…”
Arthur C Brookes, 2024a
Some techniques to lower negatives of waiting time include
- Asking for the bill as soon as your meal arrives
- Have the relevant subscriptions, memberships, etc to streamline the process, eg your passage through airports
- Patronize places that have self-service kiosks, like hotels
- Scheduling travel, eating out, etc to avoid busy times like peak hours, etc
- Distraction by device, ie “...When a line forms, nearly everyone pulls out their phone to fritter away the time, playing games, checking emails, and, especially scrolling social media…”
Arthur C Brookes, 2024a
However, it has been found that the level of boredom and fatigue can increase when you are using your phones
Practice mindfulness, ie
“...Mental exercise of directing warm emotions towards others, including friends, enemies, the whole world……research has found that this practice can increase patience. As a bonus, you can use it anywhere…”
Arthur C Brookes, 2024a
However,
“...the psychic gains from repeatedly attaining such gratification don't usually last. This is because of the psychological phenomena known as effective habituation: the process by which the positive feelings fall when we give something a game and again…”
Arthur C Brookes, 2024