Clockless, week two

By the end of this week, living without clocks, it had got very frustrating.  Asides from certain realisations which I will come to in a second, it is annoying and slightly wasteful (I think) to not know what time it is when trying to get certain things done.

The realisations:
Clock are everywhere - skype tells you what time it is, your phone tells you what time a text was sent, your answering machine tells you the time - all these clocks that I never usually notice (some of which are useful, or maybe all of which are useful but only some of the time)
Knowing the time can be useful - I knew this before I started, but it was only the debacle of Friday, where my partner had to tell me to leave to met a friend, then I thought I was going to be late, then ended up being early, when I thought I wish  could just look at a clock.  Asides from this one example, there was no other point in the week where I had to be somewhere at a certain time on my own accord, and that in itself is unrealistic.  I also didn't have any trains to catch, meetings or work where I had to be somewhere at a certain point - not a usual situation.
Not knowing the time can be very disconcerting and liberating -  not having a clock based structure to the day was a mixed bag - it was surreal and disconcerting at times, particularly as I obsess over time a lot, but it was also very freeing.  I truly enjoyed not looking at the clock and comparing what time it was to what I thought I should have achieved by that point in the day.  I was able to just get on with making and assess my day and my work objectively.

My reliance on clocks is , on the whole, unnecessary and seems often to cause me stress where it doesn't need to.  I am questioning the need for a clock on my studio desk, on the wall in front of my desk at home, in my bathroom and so on.  I feel that the visibility of time in my life is what causes me to focus on it and that is what I shall be reducing next.

My partner is away with work at some point over the summer, I may well try this experiment again then, without his alarm going off and pending arrival home from work as pointers in my day it may change things yet again.

Clockless, week 2, day 3

Yesterday was the oddest day yet.  I had a lovely and productive day for the most part, just getting things done but I got to a point where I just really wanted to know what time it was.  I wanted to know when my partner was going to be home from work, I wanted to know how long it was 'til we were meeting our friends, I wanted to know how much time I had before I had to stop work, down my tools and get ready to go out. (I should add it doesn't take long to get ready, I just didn't want to go out in my scuzzy work jeans).

It was very peculiar - I have been fine all week up until that point yesterday when it was like having a craving for time!  A clock urge!

Clockless, week 2, day 2

Yesterday was a busy and surreal day - I had loads of little jobs to do and errands to run.  A short sandwich break coincided with me missing a friends visit to my studio - and a nod towards the time:  He was popping in to see someone else there, and had said he would be there about 4pm - so when I was told I had missed him I knew it must be a bit after 4. 
The other thing I noticed yesterday is that I have quite a good idea of those I see most's schedules:  I know my partner leaves for work around 8am, I know another person in my studio leaves about 3pm, and another about 5pm and so on.

However the idea of working when I want and eating when hungry etc still stands, and I still haven't checked the time, reset my phone or anything like that.  And I feel more relaxed this week and more productive than I usually do.  This evening I am meeting a friend - my partner is getting home a bit before I meet her so I shall take that as my cue to go out but I shall have to see how the "am I late yet" worry transpires without a clock to constantly check.

Clockless, week 2, day 1

The first rule of clockless is ... don't use skype!  Turns out that the instant messanger on skype has a clock.  So no skyping for a week!

After scrambling the time on my phone it has not been happy about picking up my emails - I don't know if it's related or not!

Asides from that yesterday was a nice day - slightly odd as I kept doing things like looking at the sspace on the kitchen wall where our clock usually is and bits like that, but it was actually very freeing not to have any idea of the time.  It was somewhat unnerving though - normal things involving time like heading home from my studio at about the same time as my partner, meant that when he called to say he was leaving his job I knew roughly what time it was - and was surprised at how fast the time had gone!

Clockless, week one

Last week I carried on as normal with clocks and other time keeping devices, but kept an eye on how much I used them, and how I felt knowledge of the time was affecting me. 

I noticed that I do check the time a lot (although I was aware of that already - one of the reasons for doing this experiments) and I would be interested to know if that is a common affliction amongst the self employed? 

I also noticed that if I have an engagement later in the day - an afternoon meeting or a trip to the pub in the evening for example - I am very aware of the countdown of time until that point.  I tend to work backwards for afternoon and evening things; if I have to be in X at 6 and it takes me an hour to get there and half an hour to change out of my work clothes and gobble some toast then I have to stop work at half 4 and so on.  and I become very aware of the time, quite worried by it ticking past until the point when I must stop what I am doing. 

I worry a lot about time passing.

I am concerned by missing points in time when I should be doing something - a phone conversation scheduled for 1o'clock means I constantly check if I am late.

I over use my egg timer!  I set the timer when I am in the shower so as not not stay in there for ages by accident, I sometimes set it when I am on the internet, having lunch and so on.

I worry about not getting enough done for the amount of time spent doing it.

I like to know what time I am turning the light off at night and what time it is when I wake up (invariably before the alarm goes off)

I think I am obsessed!

Obviously there were points last week when knowing the time was very useful - getting the train, meeting a friend etc, and it would be very hard to live permanently without time-keeps but we shall see how it goes this week.

Last night before bed I scrambled the clock on my phone (it seems I cannot hide the clock on my phone so I set it for a random time)  Iphones have a kind of fruit machine thing for setting time and timers so I spun the hour and minute wheels and left it at whatever time it ended up on.
I hid the clock on my computer, took down the clocks around my flat and put them away and am stoicly ignoring my beloved egg timer!
I did have a small panic last night when I checked to see what time it was and had forgotten that I had scrambled the clock but woke up this morning quite happily and naturally and am now getting on with my day, without clocks.

Clockless Experiment

I am about to embark on an experiment on how time affects me and my making, and it's influence on my self and my body.

I often feel that the time-keeps which surround me have a stronger hold on me than I would like.  I always set an alarm although I wake before it most days, I rush and worry about what time it is, am aware of the clock even when I cannot see one.  I want to see what my life would be like if I stripped conscious time from it.

I intend to spend one week (Monday to Friday) with time keeping implements and one week (monday to Friday) without. I will record my feelings and experiences in a journal fashion daily, and also against a series of more tangible criteria such as work achieved etc.

During the with-time week I will keep a note of when I check the clock, the actions I use clocks for (catching trains etc, alarms), how I use it in regard to my making and my general living.

During the time-less week I will remove as far as possible any connection with time keeping devices (clocks, watches etc) and turn of the clock functions on my phone and computer etc. I will not be using an alarm clock or anything similar.  I will rise when I wake, eat when hungry, work as feels natural etc.

I will be tweeting about my experiences, using the hashtag #clockless and blogging about my experiences here, tagged clockless.

I will measure somewhat tangible things like work done, emotions etc to try to see what difference the week I spend without time has to a normal week.  I will also try to discover as much as possible about other peoples time experiences and experiments, so if you know of anything please let me know.

Caveats:
I am doing this Monday to Friday as I often have markets stalls at the weekends and must be there at certain times (a useful side of clocks?)
My partner will have to set his alarm to make sure he gets up for work.  However I usually wake before him (and his alarm) so I am not concerned about this disturbing things.

With-time week:  6th-10th June

Clockless week: 13th-17th June