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To organize the experience over time, most people place images of events on imaginary curves - time lines.
Jack Makani estimates the number of people who do not use the timeline at 20%, I would subjectively estimate their number at 10-15%. In any case, there are a number of people who do not use the timeline.
Typically, timelines are used to determine the order of events and build causal relationships. At the same time, to understand whether the event was in the past, is happening now, or will occur in the future, the timeline is not required - for this you can use other submodalities. For example, images of the past can be faded or grayer.
A relatively large number of preferences are associated with the organization of time:
- the ability to plan well;
- rules for building cause-and-effect relationships;
- perception of goals;
- the habit of disassociating or associating;
- the tendency to "earn money";
- "planning horizon" - how much a person looks into the future;
- adherence to plans and commitments on time;
- do several things at the same time;
- orientation to the present, past or future.
A person can have several variants of timelines that he uses depending on the context or task. For example, a through time line at work and switched on - at home.
Timeline types: Included or end-to-end timeline.
The time line can pass through the human body, then they say about the "on" time line. If the time line does not pass through the body, they speak of a "through" time line.
Associated with these differences is the "In - Out of Time" meta-program.
People with the timeline turned on tend to:
associate in a situation;
do several things at the same time
easy to get distracted;
attach great importance to the context (the situation determines the behavior);
not commit to a deadline;
earn money;
focus on the present;
easy to change plans.
People with end-to-end timelines tend to:
dissociate from the situation;
focus on completing one task;
plan carefully;
Responsibly treat obligations on time;
determine the context (behavior determines the situation).
People with the included timeline usually "move" along the timeline passing and associating with the events located on it. People with a continuous timeline observe events from the outside.
Timeline shapes
Timelines come in a wide variety of types and shapes, here I will describe the most common options.
For most people, the future is usually located in the front upper right, in the area of visual design.
Accordingly, there can be an inversion for lefties.
The positions of the past are more varied: front-left-up, front-left-down, back-left-down, back straight (usually for an included timeline).
In this case, the time line usually has a slope to the horizon line - then the images of situations are partially visible one after another. If the time line is directed strictly forward, then the person will see only the closest situation.
The included timeline most often looks like an imaginary straight line passing through the chest and directed forward - to the right - upward.
The most common variants of the end-to-end time line are either a parabola, where the future is directed up-right, and the past is left-down or up-left; or an envelope curve where the future is forward-right-up and the past is back-left-down or back-left-up.
In general, timelines can have strange bends, loops, turns, and slopes.
Here are examples of "non-standard" timelines:
for one girl, the timeline looked like a very wide parabola, so to represent events she had to look either strongly to the right or to the left, but goals and expectations did not stick out in front of her all the time;
for one young man, the future passed in front of him and turned back to the right, so that his "planning horizon" was about a week in size;
one girl had a timeline in the form of a spiral around her body, from below there were events of the past, from above - events of the future, and she could easily compare the August of this year, past or future, but not December , which at that moment were behind;
for another girl, the future at the end turned to the left, into the area of visual memories - there she had images of important goals that she could not change (since the area of memory) and perceived as inevitable things that she would definitely achieve;
Time orientation
People can be past, present, or future oriented.
Related to this is the Time Orientation meta-program.
People oriented to the past usually have images of the past in front of them, they are brighter and clearer than images of the present or the future. They build causal relationships from the past to the present: "In America, there has been a dominance of politicians lately, who thought only about minorities and the disadvantaged from their point of view, and did not think about the majority - it is understandable why this very majority has now chosen Trump."
In people oriented towards the present, the images of the present are usually large, are in front of them and often cover the images of the future (and the past, if it is in front). Causal relationships are not built, they give out information in a random order: "Now in the world that - and Syria is bombed, and refugees climb into Europe, and Trump was chosen, and we made a film about the tsar's affair with a ballerina."
By the way, people who do not have a pronounced timeline usually tend to think this way (the predominant meta-program “Present.”) Note that this is a subjective view of the present, not a philosophical one. The subjective present can be limited to the presentation of the current situation; include five minutes of the past, what is happening now and five minutes of a possible future; the idea of the day from how you woke up to how you fell asleep and the like.
Future-oriented people usually have more vivid and clear images of the future, and the past is more often directed backwards. They build causal links from the present to the future: "Now Trump has been chosen - and he wants to return production back to America, and this is a conflict with China, and if there is a conflict, then oil prices will fall."
Remember that the future differs from the past in its ability to change - if for the majority the past is stable, then the future is changeable and may have several options.
"Planning horizon" - how far a person looks into the future. For some, the "planning horizon" is limited to three months, for others it may be twenty years ahead. At the same time, people with a large "planning horizon" (five to twenty years) are usually prone to more conservatism than people with a short (several months - a couple of years) or medium (two years - five years).
Associated with these differences is the Comparison Focus meta-program. Timeline targets.
We can also place goals outside the timeline - usually this is what we want to achieve "in principle". But if we set a goal on the timeline, it will mean that it already has a deadline and usually the motivation to achieve these goals is higher.
Other ways to organize
The timeline is not the only way to organize experiences in time. For example, I've met people who use an imaginary calendar, like a google calendar. Or events are presented as a set of flipping slides with a time stamp, both digital, like a date, and analog: "the further into the past, the more faded the image."
Revealing the subjective timeline
1. Regularly recurring action
Think of a simple daily activity that you have done repeatedly in the past and are likely to do it again in the future. For example: taking a bath or shower, brushing your teeth, coffee in the morning.
2. Representation of the time line
Imagine this behavior of yourself, for example: today, yesterday, a week ago, a month, a year, five, ten years.
Similarly, tomorrow, in a week, in a month, in a year, in 3 years, 5, 10, 25, 50 years ... Define the "planning horizon" - until what point in the future this timeline continues.
3. Submodal differences
Notice what submodalities are associated with the perception of the past, present and future. Look at pictures from different times sequentially in a slightly faster way. Pay attention to color transitions, clarity, contrast, light, etc.
If the differences are not so obvious, then they become more pronounced if you think about how you do it at different times at the same time, for example, imagine how it was five years ago and how it will be in five years.
4. Draw a diagram of your timeline
Draw a diagram of your timeline. Place time values on it.
Simulation of someone else's timeline
Explore someone else's timeline and "try" it on yourself. Pay attention to:
the location of the line in space;
included or through;
line slope;
the density of the arrangement of pictures;
"Planning horizon";
location of targets;
submodalities of images (size, brightness, film / slide, clarity, etc.)
Explore and appreciate the pros and cons of this timeline for different contexts.
Editing the timeline
Experiment with the timeline: change parameters and track the pros and cons for different contexts.
For example:
change the timeline type: through / on;
the future in front or behind;
change the slope up / down;
change the width: closer to the center / further from the center;
"Planning horizon": three months, half a year, a year, 3, 5 10, 20 years;
the density of events on the timeline;
etc.
Return the timeline to its original state.
Highlight the main contexts where you might need different timelines, such as work, leisure, family.
For each context, construct your own timeline (if you wish, you can make one for all contexts - it depends on taste), evaluating the usefulness and convenience for this context. Conduct an environmental audit.
Start using the new (new) timeline in the right situations.
Your Hostages!

Jack Makani estimates the number of people who do not use the timeline at 20%, I would subjectively estimate their number at 10-15%. In any case, there are a number of people who do not use the timeline.
Typically, timelines are used to determine the order of events and build causal relationships. At the same time, to understand whether the event was in the past, is happening now, or will occur in the future, the timeline is not required - for this you can use other submodalities. For example, images of the past can be faded or grayer.
A relatively large number of preferences are associated with the organization of time:
- the ability to plan well;
- rules for building cause-and-effect relationships;
- perception of goals;
- the habit of disassociating or associating;
- the tendency to "earn money";
- "planning horizon" - how much a person looks into the future;
- adherence to plans and commitments on time;
- do several things at the same time;
- orientation to the present, past or future.
A person can have several variants of timelines that he uses depending on the context or task. For example, a through time line at work and switched on - at home.
Timeline types: Included or end-to-end timeline.

The time line can pass through the human body, then they say about the "on" time line. If the time line does not pass through the body, they speak of a "through" time line.
Associated with these differences is the "In - Out of Time" meta-program.
People with the timeline turned on tend to:
associate in a situation;
do several things at the same time
easy to get distracted;
attach great importance to the context (the situation determines the behavior);
not commit to a deadline;
earn money;
focus on the present;
easy to change plans.
People with end-to-end timelines tend to:
dissociate from the situation;
focus on completing one task;
plan carefully;
Responsibly treat obligations on time;
determine the context (behavior determines the situation).
People with the included timeline usually "move" along the timeline passing and associating with the events located on it. People with a continuous timeline observe events from the outside.
Timeline shapes
Timelines come in a wide variety of types and shapes, here I will describe the most common options.
For most people, the future is usually located in the front upper right, in the area of visual design.
Accordingly, there can be an inversion for lefties.
The positions of the past are more varied: front-left-up, front-left-down, back-left-down, back straight (usually for an included timeline).
In this case, the time line usually has a slope to the horizon line - then the images of situations are partially visible one after another. If the time line is directed strictly forward, then the person will see only the closest situation.
The included timeline most often looks like an imaginary straight line passing through the chest and directed forward - to the right - upward.
The most common variants of the end-to-end time line are either a parabola, where the future is directed up-right, and the past is left-down or up-left; or an envelope curve where the future is forward-right-up and the past is back-left-down or back-left-up.
In general, timelines can have strange bends, loops, turns, and slopes.
Here are examples of "non-standard" timelines:
for one girl, the timeline looked like a very wide parabola, so to represent events she had to look either strongly to the right or to the left, but goals and expectations did not stick out in front of her all the time;
for one young man, the future passed in front of him and turned back to the right, so that his "planning horizon" was about a week in size;
one girl had a timeline in the form of a spiral around her body, from below there were events of the past, from above - events of the future, and she could easily compare the August of this year, past or future, but not December , which at that moment were behind;
for another girl, the future at the end turned to the left, into the area of visual memories - there she had images of important goals that she could not change (since the area of memory) and perceived as inevitable things that she would definitely achieve;
Time orientation
People can be past, present, or future oriented.
Related to this is the Time Orientation meta-program.

People oriented to the past usually have images of the past in front of them, they are brighter and clearer than images of the present or the future. They build causal relationships from the past to the present: "In America, there has been a dominance of politicians lately, who thought only about minorities and the disadvantaged from their point of view, and did not think about the majority - it is understandable why this very majority has now chosen Trump."
In people oriented towards the present, the images of the present are usually large, are in front of them and often cover the images of the future (and the past, if it is in front). Causal relationships are not built, they give out information in a random order: "Now in the world that - and Syria is bombed, and refugees climb into Europe, and Trump was chosen, and we made a film about the tsar's affair with a ballerina."
By the way, people who do not have a pronounced timeline usually tend to think this way (the predominant meta-program “Present.”) Note that this is a subjective view of the present, not a philosophical one. The subjective present can be limited to the presentation of the current situation; include five minutes of the past, what is happening now and five minutes of a possible future; the idea of the day from how you woke up to how you fell asleep and the like.
Future-oriented people usually have more vivid and clear images of the future, and the past is more often directed backwards. They build causal links from the present to the future: "Now Trump has been chosen - and he wants to return production back to America, and this is a conflict with China, and if there is a conflict, then oil prices will fall."
Remember that the future differs from the past in its ability to change - if for the majority the past is stable, then the future is changeable and may have several options.
"Planning horizon" - how far a person looks into the future. For some, the "planning horizon" is limited to three months, for others it may be twenty years ahead. At the same time, people with a large "planning horizon" (five to twenty years) are usually prone to more conservatism than people with a short (several months - a couple of years) or medium (two years - five years).
Associated with these differences is the Comparison Focus meta-program. Timeline targets.
We can also place goals outside the timeline - usually this is what we want to achieve "in principle". But if we set a goal on the timeline, it will mean that it already has a deadline and usually the motivation to achieve these goals is higher.
Other ways to organize
The timeline is not the only way to organize experiences in time. For example, I've met people who use an imaginary calendar, like a google calendar. Or events are presented as a set of flipping slides with a time stamp, both digital, like a date, and analog: "the further into the past, the more faded the image."
Revealing the subjective timeline
1. Regularly recurring action
Think of a simple daily activity that you have done repeatedly in the past and are likely to do it again in the future. For example: taking a bath or shower, brushing your teeth, coffee in the morning.
2. Representation of the time line
Imagine this behavior of yourself, for example: today, yesterday, a week ago, a month, a year, five, ten years.
Similarly, tomorrow, in a week, in a month, in a year, in 3 years, 5, 10, 25, 50 years ... Define the "planning horizon" - until what point in the future this timeline continues.
3. Submodal differences
Notice what submodalities are associated with the perception of the past, present and future. Look at pictures from different times sequentially in a slightly faster way. Pay attention to color transitions, clarity, contrast, light, etc.
If the differences are not so obvious, then they become more pronounced if you think about how you do it at different times at the same time, for example, imagine how it was five years ago and how it will be in five years.
4. Draw a diagram of your timeline
Draw a diagram of your timeline. Place time values on it.
Simulation of someone else's timeline
Explore someone else's timeline and "try" it on yourself. Pay attention to:
the location of the line in space;
included or through;
line slope;
the density of the arrangement of pictures;
"Planning horizon";
location of targets;
submodalities of images (size, brightness, film / slide, clarity, etc.)
Explore and appreciate the pros and cons of this timeline for different contexts.
Editing the timeline
Experiment with the timeline: change parameters and track the pros and cons for different contexts.
For example:
change the timeline type: through / on;
the future in front or behind;
change the slope up / down;
change the width: closer to the center / further from the center;
"Planning horizon": three months, half a year, a year, 3, 5 10, 20 years;
the density of events on the timeline;
etc.
Return the timeline to its original state.
Highlight the main contexts where you might need different timelines, such as work, leisure, family.
For each context, construct your own timeline (if you wish, you can make one for all contexts - it depends on taste), evaluating the usefulness and convenience for this context. Conduct an environmental audit.
Start using the new (new) timeline in the right situations.
Your Hostages!