‘The Power of Time Perception’ is about how we perceive time, why time seems to speed up, as we grow older, why it drags when we are bored or flies when we are having fun. It is also about ways to control the speed of time in our mind so we can make the most of it.
Have you wondered why time flies when you’re having fun? Jean Paul Zogby, author of ‘The Power of Time Perception’ has unraveled some of these mysteries about time and has graciously joined me today to share his discoveries. Jean thanks for taking time to tackle time with me today. To kick off today’s interview can we do a little mental time travel back to where you were when the idea to investigate time germinated? Can you tell us a little about this germination?
A few years ago, I started thinking about how time seems to speed up as we grow older. Most of my friends shared the same experience. So I started researching the subject in Neuroscience and Cognitive Psychology, and thought of writing a book about my finding that will help people understand time experience.
How deep does your research extend around the field of time and how have you used this research to give readers a concrete plan on how to take charge of time within their lives?
I spent around 3-4 years researching the subject of time perception in the fields of Neuroscience and neuropsychology. The book refers to around 170 scientific research papers. The book is full of practical examples of how we can harness the power of time perception in our lives.
And when the readers are swinging that lasso to harness power, what is the most important aspect about time management that they manage to catch?
I wanted to send a message that we should not waste our time, as this is our most valuable and scarce resource. Once it is gone you cannot bring it back. There is nothing you can do to add a single moment to the time that is available to you. So it is important to use it wisely.
From your investment of time into this book, what have you found has been the greatest reward?
The best thing is when someone reads your book and sends you a thank you note about an insight or self-help idea he got out of the book.
It’s wonderful to hear that you’ve seen such positive responses from readers. Have wonderfully positive responses like these helped you isolate a focus area for you next book?
I am brainstorming new ideas to compliment my first book. Nothing concrete yet.
Good luck tying down a new idea, I’m sure in time one will find you. One thing I curious to find out about is your take on writing. Why did you feel compelled to write and publish what you had discovered from your personal research?
I enjoy writing because I can make people aware of things that might be important for them.
When you start writing are you always aware of what is the most important aspect that you need to communicate, or does that unfold later on in the writing process?
Not really. It is a creative process that depends on the research I do and the topics that end up being covered.
Did you find it easy to call on that creative process, or did you use up techniques to aid creativity?
I write on alternate evenings from 9:00 to 11:00 pm. But I am not disciplined enough to stick to a rigid schedule.
Is there any music that you use to get you into the flow?
I listen to jazz or classical music.
Do you find the music always keeps you in the flow? Is there anything that you do to get you back into the creative flow?
I just go for a walk, or take your mind of whatever you are doing. It will come back to you.
When it does come back and your words are all sitting there on the page, do you try and neaten them up by editing your own work, or is this something that you feel is better done by a third party?
Both, I do that myself first, and then send it to professional editors.
After editing, how has your publishing journey unfolded?
When I launched my book on 1 April (less than a month ago) I never thought it would hit No.1 bestseller list in 2 Amazon categories. It is currently ranking at # 428 in Kindle store out of 5.2 million books! A lot of that has to do with the book content, the message it is conveying, and the marketing plan that I came up with. That is a whole subject by itself. It is a lot of work but of the fun type. Just come up with a marketing plan and stick to it.
That is such impressive progress for such a short period of time. I hope that you’ve also noticed that you’ve outranked Dale Carnegie in the author rankings for Health and Fitness authors, which has to give you so much joy. And it really does validate that if you have something to say and execute well with a great marketing plan you will go far! Let’s take this interview far away from the toils of writing and the battle of the Word Processor and look at the person behind the author through our quick fire question round. I’ll start us off with a question to warm us up: Are you a valuable asset on a quiz team?
Yes
What is your favorite ocean?
The ancient ocean that NASA found on Mars! It is buried somewhere down there!
That is best answer I’ve had to this question so far! Why be limited with oceans on Earth when you can pick ancient oceans on MARS! Keeping with the geography theme, if you ruled your own country, who would you get to write the national anthem?
Steely Dan
Nice choice, Steely Dan would certainly do those lyrics justice! Have you ever danced in the rain?
No, but would like to try that one day.
I shall send some rain clouds your way so you can experience the joy soon. Do you have any philosophies that you live by?
I subscribe to the Golden rule.
That’s a wonderful subscription, and I hope that more people subscribe themselves too. What is your favorite quote?
Time is the fire we all burn within.
Ooohhh, that’s a great quote and I might need to borrow it from you in the future. Now, if you invented a monster what would it look like and what would you call it?
The flying spaghetti monster!
*Laughs* That sounds edibly terrifying! And maybe terrifyingly edible too! Are you an introvert or extrovert?
Ambivert, but slightly introvert.
How about your hand preferences. Are you left or right handed?
Right-handed
How are the colours in rainbows made?
By squeezing the colors out of sunrays
I hope that I can use an orange juicer to get those colors of the sunrays! I will have to give it a go the next time I see a rainbow. If you could breed two animals together to defy the laws of nature what new animal would you create?
A pocket sized T-Rex
*Laughs* I like that each time you create monsters or new animals you mix the terrifying with another characteristic to tone down the terror. By the way I totally want a pocket T-Rex in my life, it sounds like a very handy way to get holes punched in documents. On a less punchy note, what color socks are you wearing?
Blue
What is your favorite flavor of ice cream?
Chocolate
Yum. What’s the most unusual name you’ve ever come across?
One of my favorite authors: Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. You can give up trying to pronounce his name
I’m not sure what’s more challenging, pronunciation or the spelling. Please don’t make me type it into a library catalogue! What is your favourite word?
Time
Can’t say I’m surprised there :). What is your best tip for authors?
Keep writing.
It works! And finally, what has been your favorite line from your own writing that you look back on with pride?
We live in the moment when we stop living in the past, enjoy the present, and look forward to the future.
Jean, thank you for sharing a little of your past and present with myself and the readers today and I wish you the best of luck with your future as a published author.
Want to find out more about Jean Paul Zogby? Connect here!