Wanting to go back in time10/29/2022 ![]() ![]() Lickerman explains that time anxiety is often a “standalone problem people without other types of anxiety can experience.” But it can still occur alongside underlying anxiety conditions in some people. When you worry your choices will affect their opinion of you, you might get anxious about making the right choices, and fear you’ll run out of time to correct any mistakes. You might reason that failing to use your time in certain ways will disappoint your parents, partner, and other loved ones. When you want people to like you, you might do everything possible - including being on time - to leave a positive impression.īut worrying about what you actually do with your time can also relate to people-pleasing behaviors. A need to please othersĪ fear of showing up late is one way people-pleasing tendencies can manifest. Knowing you can’t control certain things - accidents, unforeseen circumstances, or even death - that might affect your ability to pursue meaningful goals can leave you trying to gain greater control in areas where you do have power, like your daily schedule. You can control some aspects of life, but you can’t do anything about plenty of others. These feelings often tie into a need for control. You might have a sense your life is meaningless or believe on some level you aren’t doing anything to create value or leave a lasting impact. Fear of living a life without meaningĮxistential dread, which might include thoughts like “Why am I here?” or “What’s the point of life?” can fuel worries about wasting your life or failing to live up to your potential. Here are a few potential explanations of what might be going on below the surface. “The key to coping with time anxiety lies in understanding what’s causing it,” Lickerman says. The real kicker? This fixation on the passage of time can overwhelm you to the point that you fail to see ways you could actually achieve these goals. ![]() ![]() If you haven’t successfully achieved certain milestones that you expected to reach by your current age - like marriage, world travel, or a certain career move - you might begin worrying you’ll never catch up. If your time anxiety relates to big-picture concerns, you might feel like you’ve missed the turnoff for certain paths. You believe you’ve missed out on certain opportunities Once back home, you don’t even feel satisfied with the things you did manage to do, because there was still so much else you could’ve done. You felt the clock ticking off the hours until you had to get back to work or school, and every moment you spent not tackling your list of plans felt wasted. WANTING TO GO BACK IN TIME FREEYou probably felt excited on the days leading up to that period of free time, right? Maybe you made a list of a few tasks to handle at home, or enjoyable activities you were looking forward to. Think back to your last vacation or weekend. You could also notice time anxiety showing up in your goals for yourself. You feel uneasy when you don’t get around to everything you had planned to WANTING TO GO BACK IN TIME HOW TOWhen you realize the time, you bolt out of bed, heart pounding, already stressing about lost time and wondering how to catch up - never mind that you don’t actually have to do anything. If you’ve ever slept longer than intended on a day off, you might have some familiarity with this feeling. Time anxiety can provoke a desire to rush from one place to the next, often without reason. If you do show up a few minutes late, you might feel irritated or angry, even when your lateness doesn’t matter all that much. Time anxiety can also affect your mood, according to Lickerman. This might offer some relief, but at a cost: It distracts you and affects your ability to concentrate on what you’re currently doing. You might spend a lot of time checking clocks or planning out the best route to your next destination. But stress over potential lateness can leave you constantly on edge. It’s natural to want to arrive on time, since tardiness can have a negative impact on your success at school or work. Time anxiety can lead to a preoccupation with being late, Lickerman explains. To get some insight on how it often appears in daily life, we reached out to Alex Lickerman, MD, who has spent some time exploring the concept. Time anxiety can show up in a number of ways. ![]()
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