How our relationship with time has evolved, how we are dealing with time-harried lives in today's task-based economy, and how brands can respond.

1. Time, and why we need to deal with it
A seminar with Dub Research

2. “You couldn’t keep accurate time in the middle of the
Sixteenth Century, but no-one noticed… there were no buse
to catch, no TV shows to watch, or conference calls to join”
Steven Johnson, How We Got To Now

3. In 2006, Oxford University Press found most
commonly used noun in English language was Time
Today, we are culturally obsessed by time:
Ahead of your time
Race against time
Time to kill
Nick of time
Time of your life
Quality time
Recovery time
All-time
Time out

4. Worldwide people are covering the same-
stretch of ground in 10% less time
(2006 experiment by Richard Wiseman & British Council)
To be pressed for time has become a sign of
prosperity, an indicator of social status, and
one that most people are inclined to claim.
Jonathan Gershuny, the director of Oxford

5. Our relationship with Time is driven by new realities of our
economy
TO:
SERVICE
ECONOMY
TASK-BASED
FROM:
MANUFACTURING
ECONOMY
TIME-BASED

6. Industrial Revolution changed the way we thought about time
Clocking in and clocking out
Break dictated by institutions
Lunch provided by factory
Regular market days / wash days
First intercity timetable Liverpool and
Manchester Railway 1830
Rise of synchronised timings across cities

7. Watches were a sign of status, manliness, rising up the rungs of
society, reward of good service

8. Now, we’ve moved to a service economy:
- flexible working
- task-based economy
- autonomy over your own time

9. Back in 1930 JM
Keynes predicted
a 15 hour working
week…

10. We have more leisure time than ever
Parents spend significantly
more of time with their
children than those in
generations past.
Hours worked per week has
dropped steadily since the
1930s due to growth of
labour-saving tech &
increased prosperity.

11. Studies by US economists Mark Aguiar and Erik Hurst
show that people who work flexible hours feel more
time pressured, squeezing ever more activities, both
work and leisure, into their day than do those who work
shifts with fixed start and end times.
But autonomy leads to time pressure

12. 3 current narratives around time
#1
TIME AS
LUXURY
#2
THE
PERMANENT
NOW
#3
MULTI-
TASKING
TIME

13. Time is becoming the new luxury.
Think mindfulness, digital detox, spirituality, slow food,
artisanal produce, craft culture
Fight-back against the ‘creed for speed’
The desire is to take control of your time – for yourself and
others and often to check out.
#1
TIME AS
LUXURY
“What many rushed, stressed people want more than anything else is a bit of time. In a world
that seems to worship speed going a little faster is not a luxury. Being able to go a lot slower
is the luxury. That is what we envy.” Charles Leadbeater, the future of luxury

14. #2
NOW
TIME
Technology a key driving infrastructure that speeds the world up
• Ever-faster processing speeds
• Greater and quicker penetration of tech - smartphone penetration
globally clearly outpacing the diffusion of PC’s in West
The ubiquity of mobile communications and the internet mean that we are
rarely disconnected
Faster and more frequent communication, especially as messaging apps
explode
“Our society has reoriented itself to the present moment. Everything is live, real time, and
always-on…If the end of the twentieth century can be characterized by futurism, the
twenty-first can be definedby presentism” Douglas Rushkoff

15. “The recession has arguably made multitasking more important. Since many
companies have reduced hiring, a multiskilled workforce means they can
have fewer people, potentially saving salary and overhead costs.” Stacey
Nicholl, director of banking and financial services at HR company
Communicate
BUT
Dr Glenn Wilson, a psychiatrist at King’s College London University,
monitored the IQ of workers throughout the day, he found the average
worker’s IQ drops 10 points when multitasking, compared to four points
when someone smokes marijuana.
Almost half of women (46 per cent) say that they are constantly juggling multiple tasks
throughout the day, while more than half (62 per cent) multitask at least once every
waking hour Mumsnet survey
#3
MULTI
TASKING
TIME

16. So what should brands
do?

17. Do…
• Help people co-ordinate their time
better with other people – what can you
offer as ‘sudden commonality’ or
‘anchor points’ with others?
• Be forward looking - help people feel
that they can keep up with the great
acceleration of life, lean into it, rather
than retreat from it
• Help people build walls and seams back
in to their lives to hold back distractions
and to focus their attention
Don’t…
• Mindlessly champion flexibility (for
work, shopping, etc…) People then need
to coordinate and align their personal
schedules even more.
• Don’t make fast-paced / multi-tasking
time life an enemy. It’s a signifier of
progress.
• Play on the anxiety that time is running
away from you – as soon as you mention
time, people feel stressed.

18. Contact us
Adam Chmielowski, Co-founder
adam@starlingstrategy.co.uk
07971008642
www.starlingstrategy.co.uk
@thisisstarling on twitter and instagram
Annie Auerbach, Co-founder
annie@starlingstrategy.co.uk
07939266595