Shrinking Time

I've been suffering from a sensation that time is shrinking over the last few weeks. I often used to get this at work as my every increasing inbox bulged before my eyes.

There seems to be so much to do and so little time to do it in.

I'm learning new things all the time about what it means to think, act and live like a journalist with the result that my 'to do' list is always expanding. It now includes:

- read blogs
- write blogs
- practice shorthand (and not just the L X bits that are sort of fun - bad shortand joke)
- read all the books sitting in a big pile on my desk that have been friendless since they left the library
- try and find stories to get into uni newspaper
- keep eyes peeled for other stories in local area that may be of interest
- read all the papers
- listen to radio news/watch TV news
- generally eat and sleep
- occasionally say hello to friends and family who have patiently stuck by me despite the fact that they are very obviously at the bottom of this long list!

Life is busy, but in a very good way.

Could it be the case that learning to be a journalist is all about doing all these things at once while also absorbing tons of information about what's going on in the world around you. I think so and it's a skill I haven't quite mastered yet.

I saw an article somewhere on the web recently about shrinking time. Scientists think they may be able to expand our perception to increase the 'work to time' ratio. This sounds like scary business speak, but it proved to be a very interesting concept.

Our minds control how we perceive time - it's often said that time slows down when people are in great danger, this has been shown to be scientifically true. We do have the capacity to take in more information about what's going on around us in extreme situations.

I quite regularly find myself wishing for some of this slowed down time at the moment, let's hope they crack the theory soon. Until then however, it's time to move onto point three of the list!