Do you know someone who sets their clocks ahead by 5 or 10 minutes in the hopes that it’ll prevent them from being late? Maybe you do this?
Well, according to Psychology Today, it’s called “time hacking” – and what people are doing is trying to manipulate themselves.
But the truth is, people who deliberately set their clocks and watches ahead are eight times more likely to be late for an appointment than those who set their clocks accurately. Because their subconscious mind knows their own trickery and they don’t fall for it!
So what can you do? Psychologist Linda Sapadin specializes in time management. And she says, if you’re committed to trying to fool yourself, you have to constantly change the amount of time you’re setting your clock ahead.
Otherwise, you’ll just start deducting those extra minutes. So her advice is that you change it up every week. So set your clocks 13 minutes fast, then 17, then 23 minutes. That’s the only way it’ll work.
Also using odd numbers makes re-calculating the time harder in your head, so you’re less likely to give yourself that extra grace period. And you have to do that for every clock in your house.
Or, just commit to being on time without all the personal manipulation!
