Time Management

Time management is one of the many things most of us take for granted. In North America keeping to a schedule - sometimes down to the minute, as was the case when I worked as a cashier and got 15-minute breaks (and disciplinary action if those ran over) - is viewed as part of how you show respect to others. In that culture and worldview you show how much you value family, friends, and/or work by honoring your time commitments. If you say you will meet someone at 9am, at the very least you must show up at 9am. Many people think that means showing up 10 or 15 minutes early if at all possible. And for some of us, just keeping an abstract set of rules has its own appeal. Show up at 9am. Leave at exactly 9:45am. Start the next scheduled activity at exactly 10am. Et cetera. If you're going to cancel something, if at all possible you do it as soon as possible - even the day before can be considered too late and somewhat rude.

If this is what you're used to and you move to Switzerland with its famous watches and trains you likely won't have much adjusting to do. If, however, you move somewhere like China you may well find yourself a little lost! I'm told that in some circles a more Western approach to time has been established - perhaps thanks to China's extensive economic involvement with the West - but I've found that time here is often treated the way it was where I grew up in Africa. You start something and then you ride it out till it's done, and then the next thing happens. Or you run into someone who is important to you that you haven't seen in a long time and you go with that. Or at the end of your last errand you discover a store with some things you can't find anywhere else, and go shopping for a while. Or that brunch with an old friend turns deep and personal and you can't cut it short, you just have to talk it out and be late to the doctor's office or dinner or what have you.

On this side of things, it is often the now that is most important, not the what might be. People and relationships are important. During my first semester at university in North America I was late to a number of classes. In one particularly egregious incident I missed a class because a light conversation with one of my new professors turned deeply personal and I chose to let them talk it out rather than interrupt them and tell them I had another class I was already late for. Their needs and the nature of the conversation trumped my getting to my next class, no question. And in a world where relationships and the now matter more than the abstract, things work out. You're running half an hour late to your lunch meeting? No problem, so is whoever you're meeting!

I've since worked in several very time-focused environments and my inner German has been unleashed. Now when I get notice of a significant change in my work schedule or when someone's late to a meeting I get frustrated. I've discovered the great benefit of a time-focused worldview to introverts, the foreknowledge (or presumed foreknowledge) of an event and time to internally prepare for it, whether it's a one-on-one lunch with a friend or a party. (Both of which can be very draining to an introvert, albeit in different ways.) But I am still a product of my birthplace and life experiences, and when I can prioritize others and their needs by adjusting my own personal schedule, I do. And that involves more than a little repression of my inner German, who does nothing but glance at the clock and in doing so tells whoever I'm interacting with how unimportant they are to me.

The search for balance goes on, and I'm deeply grateful to China for reminding me of the need for a bit of both worldviews in my life. Valuing the time of someone you're scheduled with and thereby valuing them is important, but so too is knowing when to prioritize the now and your connection with whoever you're spending that now with. Living here in Harbin is proving to be a much needed opportunity for me to learn that balance better, and another great reason (if you're looking to move) to consider life in China's Ice City!