Naturally, I am polychronic. I'm constantly checking my email while in meetings or classes, texting one person when I'm with someone else or doing work for one activity while working on another. Polychronic people live life continuously, in a cyclical repeating loop, just trying to get things done. But what wasn't determined was whether this was a good or bad thing.
I was pretty flattered while reading the traits summary of polychronic people. Some included:
- Consider time commitments an objective to be achieved
- project-driven
- loyal to customers and coworkers
- high-context and already have information
- are more concerned with those who are family, friends, close business associates than privacy
- borrow and lend things often and easily
- strong tendency to build lifetime relationships
- friend for life
But on the other hand, I was legitimately upset when I read these traits:
- distractible and subject to interruptions
- change plans often and easily
- negatively correlated with puncutality: the more polychronic you are, the less likely you are to e on time or on schedule.
I immediately tried rationalizing with these to prove them not true. I stay true to my plans! Always try being on time and live under the philosophy that early is on time and on time is late! I live on a schedule and overprogram just about every little thing in! I have some sort of focus...right?
But no. The test is 100 percent accurate. The research is...RIGHT. You can't do it all, perfection is not an option. You can strive for it as much as you want to but as much as I hate to say it, your best will never be perfect. Not everyone even has the same definition of phrases like "perfect" and "your best."
I let my friends distract me from my projects so I can remain social. I've had to reschedule meeting up with lunch for a friend for two weeks now because our schedules collide, so we still haven't seen each other. I have become averse to my alarm clock (yes, all eight alarms, and yes, I have tried changing the settings and putting it across the room) and am sleeping through meetings and plans left and right.
It's not okay. But it's what a polychronic person does. You have to accept your strengths and your weaknesses, and this test taught me that I can't just rationalize with these truths just to make myself happy, but rather, try and fix them. And I can begin to accept that my project-driven, information-needy and lifelong friend personality is okay with being late once in awhile.
