Time Awareness

I have learned recently that people perceive time in different ways. This may not be a strictly Aspergers trait, but it is a difference in how different brains work and process information from the world around us. A friend told me recently that they are constantly aware of time and never have a problem remembering things like what day of the week it is. On the other hand, I use routines and schedules to keep track of time. If I have a routine that repeats on a regular basis, that becomes my way of keeping track of things in my head. Doing the same thing each day or each week helps me to mentally keep track of things. Also, if the other people in my life have a similar type of schedule, I use that to keep track of time as well, like certain coworkers always being off on the same day of the week, etc.

My morning routine helps me to keep track of time. I know approximately how much time it takes to get ready in the morning and certain things are done in a certain order. I do have alarms that I have set to make sure that I stay on schedule and am not late for things, but those are usually set at 15-minute intervals, and they are set to give extra time in case I am running behind schedule in the morning.

Recently my life went thru a major upheaval in schedule, and it really impacted my brain and my sense of time. My schedule for 6 of the 7 days in the week drastically changed from a strict routine to almost nothing. For a long time, I had a major problem remembering what day of the week it was. I still have this problem occasionally, but I am creating a new schedule and routine and it is helping a little bit, though at the moment I have a lot of empty space in my life schedule that needs filled with something. Every little predictable thing in my life helps me to keep track of time, even weekly church services or weekly group meetups. Without a routine and schedule, I feel like I am mentally treading water, and it is exhausting. It zaps my mental energy, which in turn zaps my physical energy, even if I am not doing anything to use up lots of physical energy.

A week or two of vacation can be relaxing and a break from busy life, but having this no-schedule life last for longer than that can wear me down. I think a lot of elderly people go through similar experiences, when major life changes happen, like retirement or moving to a care facility. They lose their routine and schedule in life and feel lost trying to find a new one, especially if there is not much to do all day long and/or they are physically unable to do much anymore for health reasons. Going through all of this life change recently has helped me to understand on a deeper level what elderly people deal with. There are a lot of things that I understand now about what elderly people experience that I didn't understand as fully until this past year. I think this is the difference between sympathy and empathy. Lots of people can be sympathetic with elderly people and their struggles, but I have noticed that I can empathize with them on certain things now, because my own personal experiences have hit me in similar ways. I can feel what they are feeling, even if it is currently on a smaller scale and is only temporary for me, for the time being.