#10 - No Clocks

Challenge: Not looking at a clock

For decades, scientists have believed that the brain possesses an internal clock that allows it to keep track of time. A UCLA study and I have confirmed this to be true.

Analogy: If you toss a pebble into a lake, the ripples of water produced by the pebble's impact act like a signature of the pebble's entry time. The farther the ripples travel, the more time has passed. A similar process takes place in the brain that allows it to track time. Every time the brain processes a sensory event, such as a sound or flash of light, it triggers a cascade of reactions between brain cells and their connections. Each reaction leaves a signature that enables the brain cell network to encode time.

I was able to keep time in my head, from meetings that always occur at the same time each week, to the siren testing happening at 1pm, to the location of the sun. I did ask people once in a while the time.

Take-aways:
1. Managing mine time was difficult when I didn’t exactly know it.
2. I found myself either early or late to things and felt like the day moved extremely slow.
3. It was nice not to feel responsible and have a good excuse for being late. Sometimes, I think we’d all be better off living in a world without time.

NEXT CHALLENGE: STANDING AT WORK