Unconscious/Conscious Intentions

During the week, in a chapter assigned to me by my professor on chronemics, one of the articles I had read was by Lila MacLellan titled "Time is a strong but rarely recognized power construct in the work place". The title itself interested me because when I really think about it, time is powerful. MacLellan begins her article with an example of her friend, her romantic interest, and how their conversation went. Instead of speaking about the actual content of messages, MacLellan found herself studying the time stamps of her friends messages between her and the guy. What time did he respond and how fast did he respond? MacLellan then says, "In relationships, time is a currency that we dole out with sometimes unconscious intentions." Having reading several articles on chronemics, which is a subcategory of nonverbal communication, it made me realize just how terrible people might be with time! We tend to play around with time and actually use it as a punishment for our significant other. Time-outs are typically used for young children when they might have colored the walls or made a mess. Putting them aside and punishing them with a period of silence sounds harsh, but they'll get back to playing with their toys in no time! Punishing your significant other with a period of silence throughout the day, though? That says different things! Because calling isn't the norm anymore and texting is a more convenient way of talking, not responding to your significant other, or someone you have recently began seeing, is considered a punishment. It may give off a message that you are upset with them, doing it out of spite, or just uninterested in them. And though there's the possibility of actually being busy and not being able to text back, that is just something one tells themselves when their mind has gone to the worst. And although silence means no communication whatsoever, silence is still a message! So, as Maclellan said we sometimes do this with unconscious intentions, a lot of it is conscious intentions, too! Time is so powerful!


https://qz.com/work/1096844/managing-time-is-a-power-construct-that-we-play-out-at-work/