May 29, 2021 ---Week 5

         Cultural Differences Concerning Time

        Have you ever heard of the difference between monochronic and polychronic?  I had never even known that they existed--let alone what they were!  So, a quick definition:   monochronic is a cultural time orientation that schedules one event at a time in an orderly fashion; polychronic is the cultural time orientation where time is viewed as a fluid concept and people can work on several tasks simultaneously.  In our world, western cultures such as the United States, and western Europe are monochronic.  The Mediterranean area, South America, Africa, Asia, and the Arabic countries are polychronic.  What difference does this make?  When people from these two differing cultures meet, many (like me) do not realize that there are basic differences and there can be friction, annoyance, or detrimental judgements made. 

     In a monochronic society, order and time are valued highly.  Promptness is a virtue, and finishing one thing at a time is expected.  Schedule commitments are taken very seriously.  For example, if you are more than 15 minutes late for a doctor's appointment, your appointment is cancelled and you have to re-make it to see the doctor.  This works well in a business oriented society because a lot of things can get done in an orderly fashion.

     In a polychronic culture time is more flexible.  Multitasking is highly valued and several appointments may be made for the same time.  Emphasis is placed on the involvement of people and having good manners.  Because life is not entirely predictable, scheduling and being precise is not considered that important.  People in this culture would rather not cut a conversation short in order to be on time to an appointment and might be offended by the other culture's insistence on punctuality.

     In the Doctrine and Covenants 72:4, our Savior said that "he who is faithful and wise in time is accounted worthy to inherit the mansions prepared for him of my Father".  Being wise with our time does not necessarily mean getting more done.  Nor does it mean wasting it in chit chat that is not of service.  The Lord also taught us that "to everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under heaven".

So, by this standard, we know that there is enough time--if we use it wisely.  And wise usage ensures that we balance the sides of our "to-do" lists with our "to help" lists.  

   In a future classroom, this issue of time and the cultural differences that surround it, could be divisive.  I am glad to have learned of this issue well in advance, for now there is time to prepare.  Time to prepare my attitude; time to prepare my expectations; and time to prepare how to teach the wise use of time to all cultures.