My ThinkRightNow!

Utilising Time Lines

Having discovered our “Time Line” in the previous exercise, we now delve into the way they influence our life, and hence how we can utilise them to help achieve our desired outcome.

I am a typical “In Time” person. Time goes by without me being aware of it, and this happens both in the small sense (my coffee often goes cold, I daren’t leave a bath running, I suddenly realise it’s last orders…) and in the big sense - larger projects can run from weeks to months (or even years) without me batting an eyelid until I sit down and review the situation and am horrified at how far off schedule I am (ok, ok, I’m not even that horrified). Nowadays whenever I plan something I do my utmost to remember to drop it onto a “By Time Line” so that it is permanently in front of me where I can keep an eye on it, past present and future. The start moves into the past but never so far as to be out of sight, and the future is kept clear and bright, and the whole is on a schedule (a calendar) that is appropriate to the task. Large projects I break into more manageable “bite size” chunks, incorporate “stepping stones” along the way like markers, so that I can check that progress is on schedule.

Someone whose timeline I recently elicited was involved (and probably still is) in a major building project. It was the nearest I have ever encountered to non-existent, with events seemingly randomly scattered throughout, though for the most part the present was fairly prominent. This fitted completely with his planning and execution of the project. I suspect he started to develop an “in time” line, that somehow got disrupted at an early stage and stayed that way - and will continue to since he chose to keep his existing timeline!

If, on the other hand you are someone who’s only happy when everything is planned, you lead a regimented lifestyle and fret if something isn’t done on time or when you feel you ought to do it you are certainly a “by time” person. You’re probably a very effective person, and successful in your chosen field, however your life will likely lack spontaneity. You’ll know where you’re going on holiday the year after next - it’s probably the same place you went to last year, or at least you’ve had it mind for a long time!

If this sounds at all like you, you may choose to experiment with an “in time” line. Don’t worry - you can try it out on a small area of your life, say a day trip or hobby project, and you won’t have to keep it if you don’t like it. Imagine the existing “by time” line spread in front of you, and then swing it round so that the past goes behind you, you stand in the present, and the future is ahead. Now take what NLP calls an “ecology check”. Does this new orientation feel good for you? Does it interfere with anything important you have planned? Try to differentiate between “strange-novel-ok” and “definitely undesirable”, and if it’s the latter just swing it back.