Why time seems to pass differently depending on a person’s profile

After retiring from my career as a professional athlete, I was full of enthusiasm for new projects. I met with many professionals in various fields to discuss potential collaborations. Time seemed to drag on. I felt frustrated waiting for responses, which prompted me to try to understand that frustration.

In the professional world, one fundamental aspect is often overlooked, even though it is crucial for building strong and effective relationships: the temporal dimension of our individual perspectives. How do we view time in our interactions and collaborations? Yet this detail holds the key to an ideal professional connection.

Let’s explore together why and how this shared understanding of time can transform our interactions and professional success.

Target blood pressure and heart rate: entrepreneurs, professional athletes, employees

Different professional roles vary in terms of the pressure they entail and the frequency of deadlines.

Time-related projections also vary depending on each person's career path.

Pressure is linked to the stakes involved in a goal or mission. Of course, these stakes vary. Pressure arises and can be intense or mild depending on the individual. The fear of making a mistake, of disappointing others, of failing, and so on, plays a major role in this feeling.

All of this is tied to the stakes: the higher the stakes and the greater the expectations—especially when those expectations are held by a large number of people and involve significant exposure—the greater the perceived stakes and pressure will be.

Next, there is the frequency of goals, which, in her view, is often linked to the frequency of matches for an athlete or events for a company, as well as the significance of the event.

The first role—that of an entrepreneur—is, to put it bluntly, one where if you don’t meet your daily goals, you won’t be rewarded and you’ll end up with nothing. Entrepreneurs face a constant stream of goals, and their commitment is, in my view, the most intense.

Professional athletes are also trained with a high frequency of goals, which varies depending on their level and their collective and personal objectives. The more you aim to play for a top-tier club, the greater the pressure and the higher the frequency of goals, and the timeline becomes very tight. One week, a match with all that’s at stake and the pressure that comes with it; the next week, it’s back to square one.

Civil servants and employees on permanent contracts, for example, may face different frequencies of performance reviews and varying levels of pressure, often enjoying greater stability but also facing long-term performance expectations. In many professions, performance reviews are much less frequent, and in some cases nonexistent.

Each professional role therefore comes with its own set of challenges and its own relationship with time. Understanding this can help us better support everyone in achieving their goals and fostering well-being throughout their career journey.

Aligning expectations: the key to effective collaboration

Each of us has a unique experience, maintains a different relationship with time, harbors a desire for commitment, and cultivates different personal and professional expectations and standards.

What is your age?

Knowing this will help you better understand when you want to start and finish a project or goal. But above all, understanding the natural perception of time among the people you interact with—whether in your personal or professional life—will make those interactions easier.

Align your expectations with those of others to avoid frustration and misunderstandings, and to work together more harmoniously and effectively.

Today, as a mental performance coach with 16 years of professional rugby experience and over 20 years of on-the-ground expertise, I work out of Toulon to help elite athletes and professionals better understand their relationship with time so they can achieve sustained performance.