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Lesson 6

Coding of time:

A number of NLP writers and trainers have used the concept of a timelineto describe the way we record and store experience over time. he way webehave and identify ourselves depends upon our uni!ue past experiences " acollection of memories. hese time"space experiences ma#e us uni!ue.hey give us what we call consciousness and personality. $ur experiencehappens over time% of course% and we have very old as well as recentmemories. At the same time we sometimes loo# into the future. &o aperson's timeline represents this uni!ue chronology of experience. (tforms our memory coding " past% present and future " as the brain storesit.

)e #now very little about the neurology of memory. *ut the idea of such atimeline process% or a chronological se!uence of life experiences% ma#essense. )e must% for instance% have some way of #nowing whether somethinghappened five minutes ago or five years ago. $r% for that matter% that

something we imagine about the future hasn't already happened. After all%we use the same sort of sensory inputs +sights% sounds and feelings,%whether we thin# about the past or the future.

&ights% sounds and feelings% on their own% do not seem to contain any #indof time coding. (n some cases% for instance% distant memories involve veryvivid recall% almost as though the event happened yesterday. Conversely%we may have difficulty con-uring up a far more recent memory. he codingseems to happen at the submodality level. &etting all these experiences inchronological order appears to re!uire another dimension of understanding" a neurological process that ma#es sense in terms of time. )e #nowlittle about this aspect of our thin#ing as a brain process. *ut the ideaof a time line +rather li#e a river flowing from its source to the sea% ora road on the -ourney through life,% provides a useful metaphor.

(n a !uite literal sense your uni!ue present"day identity reflects yourpersonal timeline. (t includes% for instance% all the decisions you havemade in the past and which have brought you to the present " yourindividual history% in hours% days and years. his personal time 'record'provides important personal #nowledge% which can help us understandourselves better. *ut it can also bring about change. ou can decide touse time in a different way.

Certain techni!ues based on the idea of a timeline enable you to alterthe very neurology of past memories. ou can manipulate them% in the bestsense of the word% to achieve your present outcomes. ou can choose tochange them +-ust as you changed memories% by switching sub"modalities to

change the way you feel,.

)e each have a uni!ue timeline. Consider% for instance% the way we allthin# differently about time% even though it comprises standard units on acloc#. &ome people seem to have 'all the time in the world'% while othersnever seem to have 'enough hours in the day'. And this% it turns out%does not necessarily reflect your -ob or what you actually achieve withyour time. /ather it reflects your personality or thin#ing style% andspecifically the way you code time. he old adage '(f you want a -obdoing% as# a busy person' illustrates this well. he way you perceive

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time internally determines the effect it has on you and how you use it. According to timeline theory we all store time in a linear way. hingshappen in a line% in se!uence% one event after another " something thathappened a year ago happened before something that happened a wee# ago.*ut there the similarity ends. As individuals' we code this timedistinction +or store it in our brains,% in different ways.

0ow% then% do we 'manage' time in our minds1 ou can get some clues by thewords people use in everyday communication. 2xpressions li#e ' ou willloo# bac# on this and be grateful'% or ' ou will loo# bac# and see thefunny side'% suggest that we can store past memories as if behind us.&imilarly% we tal# about loo#ing forward to an event that has not yethappened. Again% we instinctively use metaphors of space and direction.*ut now let us consider some cultural differences concerning time.

ime and cultures:

hese different time expressions seem fairly insignificant until we learnthat different cultural norms apply to spea#ing or thin#ing about time.

Anglo"2uropean and Arabic ime

&o"called 'Anglo"2uropean time' follows the linear model of time in whichone event follows another in a line. 3or instance% some people describetime as going from left to right% with the' distant past to the far leftand the distant future far off to the right. 4sing this linear concept oftime% diaries and appointment boo#s ta#e on special importance. (f youhave not finished your meeting by four o'cloc# you have to 'get a move on'because you 'have another lined up' and 'time will not wait for you'. ouhave got to fit all the events in your life into this linear process. imeseems li#e a moving conveyor belt and everything you do has to #eep pacewith it. (f not% the world will leave you behind% wor# will not get done%and you will have lost time forever. ime seems li#e a river% endlesslyflowing from its source to the ocean.

&o"called 'Arabic time'% on the other hand% presents us with a differentnotion. (t applies not -ust to Arabic people but also to people in manytropical or hot countries. (n cultures with such a timeline% time happensmore in the present. (t always happens now. &o you can turn up for anappointment at any time because time has not gone. (t resides always inthe here and now. &uch people seem to 'live in the present'.

hese different concepts of time can infuriate someone from anotherculture or timeline type. Anglo"2uropeans may consider it discourteousnot to #eep an agreed appointment to the minute. $n the other hand%someone who wor#s according to Arabic time may consider it discourteousnot to give full attention to their present guest% however long it ta#es%

and whoever they #eep waiting. As well as values% the very concept oftime differs.

hese concepts of time affect many millions of people at a deep culturallevel% impacting on every aspect of their lives. (t follows that% if timehappens now% we have no concept% or a different concept% of the future.And this may account for what seems to Anglo"2uropeans a fatalisticattitude% or lac# of foresight as to what might happen tomorrow% amongstArabic time#eepers.

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(ndividual 5ifferences

)e also find these cultural stereotypes in individuals% what"ever theircultural bac#ground. any )estern people% for example% seem to have thesame carefree attitude characteristic of Arabic time. &ometimes a husbandand wife will have different attitudes to time " one extra"punctual andmeticulously organi7ed and the other easy"going and laisse7 faire. &o%even within cultural norms% large variations exist. 3or instance% adifference exists between% say% the southern states and the bustlingcities of north"eastern America. And in many countries we find a timedifference between country and town people. hen% within these commongeographic% national or cultural norms% we find many individualexceptions. (n some cases a person has a sort of 'split personality' andwill act differently at wor# to the way they act at wee#ends or when onholiday. $r a person may change their attitude to time with age andexperience. ore star#ly% this can occur on becoming aware of a terminalillness. (n each case we use a different way of coding time. &o neitherculture nor nurture provide the full answer. (t happens in the brain% as auni!ue neurological process.

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As we have said.% the words and expressions we use give clues to ourpersonal timeline% or the way we store memories. *ut we can also expressthe timeline metaphor spatially. (f ( as#ed you to point to the past% thento the future% where would you point1 (t may seem li#e a stupid !uestion.*ut% assuming you disregard its stupidity and instinctively point% whatmight it tell you1

(t turns out that we often represent time by a line. (t typically runsfrom left to right +past to future, or sometimes right to left. (n thesecases all your memories% as well as the present and future% lie somewherein front of you% as if within your arc of vision. hus you can 'see' thepast as memories and at the same time 'loo# into' the future " the sameexpressions we use in tal#ing about time. )e call this 'through time'% andit illustrates what we described earlier as Anglo"2uropean time.)e can also represent time by '(n ime'% more characteristic of Arabictime. (n this case time stretches from front +future, to bac# +past, withpart of it 'inside' us. )hereas a hrough ime timeline lies completelyin front of you% part of the (n ime timeline lies behind the plane ofyour eyes. Let us describe these important distinctions further. )e havealready said that 'through time' people have an awareness of time% and getupset when others do not. 3or them time ta#es a continuous anduninterrupted course. (t should not have unexplained gaps. (t may pass!uic#ly or slowly% but 'through time' people ta#e account of duration.4sually such a person dissociates memories% so they in effect seethemselves in the memory. ou recall that their whole timeline lies within

their imagined field of vision. As well as positively planning for thefuture% loo#ing to the future might mean worry and anxiety. And% as wellas the past providing important lessons% it may also mean regret orremorse. &o these common personality traits can stem from a person'stimeline.

he way the person perceives everyday things reflects all this. 3orexample% a 'through time' person will tend to value services +say of aconsultant,% on the basis of time spent. hat% to them% means value formoney. ypically% they will want more time for the same price because

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(t enables you to consciously focus more or less on the past or future.ou have the choice. hin#ing less about the future usually means lessworry% for instance. And thin#ing less about the past may mean fewerregrets and unhelpful post mortems. /emember% however% you don't need to

focus on what you want to forget% but on new thoughts " what you want. ou can understand how other people thin# about time and get better

rapport.

ou can 'reframe' any problem or issue -ust by putting it into adifferent time context +e.g. '0ow will ( feel in five years1',.

ou will understand yourself better% and control your feelings andbehaviour accordingly.