All human activity is based on information processing. Whatever we do, whether it is an automatic activity like breathing or a complex and highly sophisticated activity like solving a philosophical problem, our brains are required to process vast amounts of information.

Time creation is concerned with identifying and applying ways in which the flow rate can be speeded up. It aims to achieve this without adverse effects upon the quality of performance. Often, in fact, a higher flow rate produces better performance because the brain is being used at a speed which is closer to its true potential. Sometimes the flow rate needs to be slowed down and this is still a concern of time creation. Time creation is concerned with doing things at the optimum speed, bearing in mind the nature of the activity and the context in which it is being carried out. It is not interested in fast living or doing things faster just for the sake of doing them faster. Speed for the sake of speed is one of the factors that produces headless chickens in the first place.

The flow rate can take many forms. It is concerned with both receiving information and producing it. In receiving information, as in reading, it is affected by how quickly the eyes move across the page, how many reading materials are dealt with in a given time, and so on. In producing information, as in taking part in a discussion or meeting, it is affected by how often an individual speaks (or what is often called the contribution rate), how much is said on each occasion (or volume production), and so on.

Flow rate can be increased in a number of ways. Shortage of time may mean things have to be done faster. There may be an increase in the ‘information density’ (as, for instance, in reading, when one paragraph may contain a lot more information than others). It may also be increased deliberately. It is this last method that we are interested in here.

Before you can try to raise your flow rate, you will need two things. You will need them for every chapter in this book, so you should make sure you have them to hand every time you are working on developing time creation techniques.

You will need a means of timing activities. A stopwatch or a digital watch or clock which has a timer facility will give you the necessary degree of precision. Accurate measurement is necessary because you cannot tell merely from a subjective impression whether you are doing things faster or not. You may think you are doing something faster and then find you have in fact taken longer over it. So a means of making objective measurements of time and speed is essential. You can, of course, use any old clock or watch if you like, but you will sacrifice some accuracy in the process.

You will also need a notebook in which to record your performance. This is necessary so that you can have continuous and accurate feedback, the reasons for which we explained in more detail in Part 1 Chapter 1. Record starting times and finishing times for activities and everything else that you are instructed to record as you work through this book. In this way, you will make faster and better progress in mastering time creation techniques.

Let us now see, then, how the flow rate can be increased. Select an activity, any activity. Getting a meal ready, reading the morning paper, walking from the train to the office, writing a letter, putting your make-up on, or any other activity which you would like to do faster.

• 1.Set a starting time which will enable you to proceed uninterrupted.
• 2.Set your stopwatch or timer in motion.
• 3.Carry out the activity as you would normally do it and record the amount of time it takes you.
• 4.Choose a way of assessing how well you have performed and record this in the notebook as well.
• 5.Reading can be checked by a comprehension test. Other activities can be graded by yourself or, better still, by someone else, on a scale of 0 to 10 for quality.

On the second and subsequent occasions, you simply try to increase the flow rate by faster movements. As you do the activity, try to do everything just a little faster than you would normally do things. Don’t try to do anything differently at this stage, just faster. Faster movements are a very simple way of raising the flow rate. Be careful not to overdo it. A 5% or 10% increase in speed is the most we are looking for from this technique. Anything more and you might start to make mistakes. We do not want that. We want a higher flow rate without errors.

Concentrate on the chosen activity until it is completed. Don’t try to do several things at once. Don’t stop. Don’t go back if, for instance, you have chosen an activity like reading, to check on parts you have already dealt with. Going back (or regression) is rarely necessary and, since it clearly adds to the time an activity takes, it is better to aim for regression-free progress. On each occasion, at the end of the activity, record the time taken, together with your assessment of the quality of performance. Do this for at least three days before adding on the next time creation technique to your approach.

Remember that being able to do things faster does not mean that you always have to do them faster. But it helps when you have to. It also gives better performance when doing them slightly slower than you know you are capable of doing them. This is because once the pressure for faster movement is relaxed slightly you can often enjoy an activity more, knowing that if the time available for it is curtailed without warning you are able to speed up without making errors and still complete the task satisfactorily.

In situations where the flow rate is controlled by others, for instance when watching television, on train journeys, in lectures or on mass-production lines, there is less scope for faster movement, but there is still some. On TV, subtitles can be read quicker, the point or purpose of a play can be perceived quicker, questions on quiz shows can be answered (or attempted) before the participants respond. On train journeys books can be read quicker, snacks taken slightly faster, more letters can be written. In lectures, notes can be made faster and on mass-production lines there is still some scope for faster movement to enable one to be just slightly ahead of the pace of the line so that extra mini-breaks can be taken while the line catches up.

When you proceed to the next time creation technique, it is vital to remember that you do not give all of your attention to that technique and forget about this one. The aim is, rather, to add on the next technique to this one, so that by the time you reach the end of Part 1 Chapter 12 you are practising twelve new techniques. That way, you will get the greatest possible benefit out of time creation and move gradually and certainly from being a headless chicken to becoming a laidback bear for whom speed has a purpose and is used when necessary. Anyone who has watched on TV grizzly bears fishing in a river for salmon knows how quickly bears can move when they have to.