How accurate is your biological clock?

[igor_kavinski]

I can sometimes predict the time of day without looking at my mobile or PC. I left my room at 1:34 A.M. just now to deposit cash in my bank's ATM (they cheaped out and replaced the nearby CDM with an ATM). It's a 15 minute brisk walk away. So I came back, did some squats, went to pee and while doing that, I think it should be 2:30 A.M. by now. It was actually 2:20 A.M. Not bad, right?

 

[Captante]

How accurate is your biological clock?

Personally I gave up on conceiving myself a long time ago!

 

[MtnMan]

Where do you live that going to an ATM at almost 2AM, on foot, isn't a risky endeavor?

 

[pete6032]

I am old and feel like shit so I think my biological clock is pretty good.

 

[ringtail]

igor_kavinski
"I think it should be 2:30 A.M. by now. It was actually 2:20 A.M. Not bad, right? "

Richard Feynman writes about his own time counting via biological clock and always missing the mark by W A Y more than you've reported here, so congratulations. On this particular skill you beat a Nobel prizeman!

 

[igor_kavinski]

Where do you live that going to an ATM at almost 2AM, on foot, isn't a risky endeavor?

Abu Dhabi. Nah, I've even seen a few women walking around at odd hours of the night. I don't think I've ever seen the roads totally free of cars here at night. Maybe one reason is that a lot of fast food franchises like Burger King, KFC and Hardees are open here till 3 A.M. so people tend to go out late in the night for snacks.

There have been a few times in the past when I was younger and I would need serious catching up to do on sleep so I would come home from work around 11 P.M. and then hit the bed, wake up around 2:30 A.M. and go get dinner from KFC or Hardees (both were right next to each other about 10 minutes on foot). I would eat, watch a movie or play on my PS4 and then sleep again at around 7 or 8 AM, wake up at 12 P.M. and get ready for my shift.

 

[MtnMan]

Mine is kinda hit or miss.

The dog on the other hand must be synced to the Naval Observatory. My wife feeds him at 5 PM. He will get out of his bed and go stand by her chair anywhere between 4:59 and 5:01PM, with "like where is my dinner" look on his face.

 

[Red Squirrel]

If not for outside factors such as position of the sun or whether or not it's actually out in first place my internal concept of time is basically zero. Working shift work might have to do with that, I don't really have a routine as far as when I sleep or eat. I do kinda wonder how unhealthy that is sometimes, but I do like the shift work because I get more time off. I'd hate having to go back to a 8x5 job again.

 

[igor_kavinski]

I do kinda wonder how unhealthy that is sometimes, but I do like the shift work because I get more time off.

Liking the work and also getting more time off means you are getting way less stress than if you disliked shift work and also didn't get more time off. So in your case, I guess that aspect nullifies any negative health concerns because your body is getting to be more healthy due to relatively lesser stress.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Liking the work and also getting more time off means you are getting way less stress than if you disliked shift work and also didn't get more time off. So in your case, I guess that aspect nullifies any negative health concerns because your body is getting to be more healthy due to relatively lesser stress.

That's a good point. Stress is a silent killer. I had a stressful job before and I left it, it was not worth dealing with that BS. I'd probably be turning gray and overall in a bad spot if I was still at that job.

 

[RLGL]

Mine isn't too good, but it will be dead on one day!

 

[igor_kavinski]

Just now, I thought it should be 10:30 PM. Was off by 3 or 4 minutes.

 

[Captante]

I thought it should be 10:30 PM

From where I'm sitting I have some potentially very bad news!

 

[igor_kavinski]

From where I'm sitting I have some potentially very bad news!

Other than the fact that we don't share the same timezone, I'm curious to hear what that bad news might be

 

[MrSquished]

My biological clock is broken. It's very difficult to fall asleep in my clock always wakes me up before I've had enough sleep no matter when I fall asleep.

 

[igor_kavinski]

My biological clock is broken. It's very difficult to fall asleep in my clock always wakes me up before I've had enough sleep no matter when I fall asleep.

Weird. I've been having the same issue lately (I think 3 consecutive days now). Waking up around the same time even though my body hasn't had enough sleep. I hope it's not permanent!

 

[sdifox]

Pretty good. That is why the time change pisses me off.

 

[DigDog]

now it's shit, but 20 years ago it was accurate to within 3 minutes.

 

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

Mine didn't get reset for DST.

Outside doing stuff, no clocks handy. Based on the Sun, I figured about 1130. Came inside and looked ... clocks say 1230.

 

[shortylickens]

used to be pretty good. My body was more regular.
Long time ago I poo'd exactly 30 minutes after crawling out of bed. Now it feels random.

 

[A///]

Mine is terrible. Time seems to either pass by or slow to a crawl.

Abu Dhabi. Nah, I've even seen a few women walking around at odd hours of the night. I don't think I've ever seen the roads totally free of cars here at night. Maybe one reason is that a lot of fast food franchises like Burger King, KFC and Hardees are open here till 3 A.M. so people tend to go out late in the night for snacks.

There have been a few times in the past when I was younger and I would need serious catching up to do on sleep so I would come home from work around 11 P.M. and then hit the bed, wake up around 2:30 A.M. and go get dinner from KFC or Hardees (both were right next to each other about 10 minutes on foot). I would eat, watch a movie or play on my PS4 and then sleep again at around 7 or 8 AM, wake up at 12 P.M. and get ready for my shift.

That because the laws there are strict. I left my wallet in a restaurant in another country in your region once and realized later. I went back assuming it had been stolen but it was there as I'd left it. The table had a no sitting sign in English and Arabic. The manager explained due to the strict laws no one would dare steal from another, regardless of religion. Very Japan like!

 

[igor_kavinski]

Time seems to either pass by or slow to a crawl.

What do you do when it slows to a crawl? I want that so bad! I never have enough time to do anything

 

[Captante]

What do you do when it slows to a crawl? I want that so bad! I never have enough time to do anything

Grab a salad fork and jam it into the back of your hand* a few times .... time WILL slow to a crawl OTW to the emergency room!

Spoiler

DON'T ACTUALLY TRY THIS !!! (although it should work!)

 

[A///]

What do you do when it slows to a crawl? I want that so bad! I never have enough time to do anything

I read or watch videos on youtube to learn how to do things. Knowing a video is a set time I can watch a few to pass the time and estimate how much time has passed including search time.

 

[Kaido]

I suffer from time blindness with my ADHD:

Time Blindness and ADHD - Focus: The Online Adult ADHD Magazine

Time blindness is a common problem for adults with ADHD

focusmag.uk

I also have dyscalculia (math dyslexia), which makes me struggle with time:

Dyscalculia and Trouble with Time

Today we have a guest blog post from Laura M. Jackson. Laura is a mom and author of a new book, Discovering Dyscalculia. She shares some of the first indicators of Dyscalculia.

www.timetimer.com

My internal sense of time is really horrible. I'll be working on something at 7pm and all of a sudden it's 1:30am in the morning. My sensitivity to the passage of time is HIGHLY variable...sometimes it goes really slow & other times really fast. I have to use things like named smartphone alarms to help prompt me to do tasks or switch gears because I'll just space it otherwise. I've always been late to everything & had to develop a "time stacking" checklist to make it to places on-time. For example, going to a dentist's appointment:

1. What time do I need to be there? (ex. 9:30am)
2. When I get there, I have to walk from the parking lot, sign-in, etc. so how early do I need to arrive? (ex. 10 minutes early, so I need to be there at 9:20am)
3. What's the weather like & what might the traffic conditions be like? (ex. if it's a 10-minute drive & it's raining or rush hour, maybe add 5 minutes, so I need to leave the house at 9:05am)
4. I need 5-minute buffer alarm to "switch gears", grab what I need (ex. insurance card), and then walk out to my car, so another 5 minutes (so I set my alarm for 9:00am)

I also have aphantasia (I can't see pictures in my mind), so I have a hard time imagining numbers, time, etc. So most people seem to just kind of have those "bowling bumpers" in their head for being late or being on-time & can remember & self-motivate to get to where they need on-time, but those simply don't exist for me, haha! I have to rely on a calendar, named reminder alarms, etc. to get by.