Timeless
My watch broke recently. Since I’ve been known to actually sleep with it on, I thought I’d be utterly lost without it. However, over a month has passed and I now find myself in no hurry to replace it.
If I REALLY need to see what time it is, there’s usually a clock around somewhere. Well, we do have a courthouse in the area that feels compelled to have broken clocks with all manner of incorrect times but otherwise it’s not a problem. Without constantly checking my watch, I find myself developing a much stronger internal sense of time. It’s even carrying over at home – I’ve started getting up on time before my alarm clock goes off!
There’s something grounding about finding my way through the rhythms of the day. I get things done and everything seems to just flow better now that I don’t look down at a wristwatch every few minutes. There is something very freeing about moving from morning to afternoon to evening and just getting daily tasks done without trying to force everything into little blocks of minutes. Even better, I don’t feel time pressure nearly as much. I think I may hold off on getting that new watch for a while.
I do wonder, though, how many others would like to try living without their watches a bit. Do you think you could do it?
– Lynn Spencer
I don’t even take my watch off to sleep! Am I weird?
Tee, if I asked you what time it was and you said ‘around 5:15’ and then I later found out it was actually 5:08 I would be so pissed at that helpful (yet not!) stranger who I asked the time from. 7 minutes makes a lot of difference! :p I could have been meeting someone for 5:15 and was 5 minutes away and so totally panicked and rushed to the meeting spot all hot and sweaty only to realise I had a five minutes to spare. This is like a nightmare for me.
This is why I don’t take my watch off. My phone has the time but I have to get it out of my bag to check the time. My watch is on my hand so a quick lift of the arm and there you have it, it’s 5:08!
Abi
I don’t think I could do it – even though I read recently that only “old people” had watches. For me it’s not just my need to know the time; it’s the feeling of the watch on my wrist. I take it off when I sleep or shower…and that’s pretty much it. I’ve been wearing a watch since I was fourteen. Which is (gulp) 26 years.
Oops, that could be me, Lee. Thanks for being one of the people who wear watches so that people like me who dislike wearing them don’t have to. LOL
I have to wear my watch even if I’m at work or home looking at the time on my computer. So many people ask what time it is, especially people who are waiting for a bus.
@Tee – I think you’re right. There’s something nice about not knowing EXACTLY what time it is! I’m noticing that I tend to show up early to things, but I like not having to check the time every few minutes.
I never wear a watch. I think when I was in my 20s, I wore one occasionally, then eventually gave it up. Haven’t had one in years and years. Someone around me always has the time, or I’ve been known to stop people and ask them the time if I really need to know. However, just as you said, Lynn, there’s a rhythm to the day where I just sense approximately what time it is—clocks on the wall, in the car—really just about everywhere you go.
My husband doesn’t understand how I can go without one because many times he’s forgotten and even gone to sleep with it. To me, they’re a nuisance to wear and I love not knowing “exactly” what time it is. But then I’m not a person who gives the exact time in reply. If asked, I’ll say “around 5:15” when it’s really 5:08. And I’ll never say, “Meet you at 5:00”—it’s always “Meet you around 5:00.”
No. I tried it, but I was not comfortable. I know there’s a clock around pretty much everywhere I am, but I want my Timex! I have a cell phone, but it’s digital and I don’t like digital.