Individual differences in the use of time management mechanics and in time discounting

Abstract

Behavioral decision-making research has shown that people generally discount future outcomes. This phenomenon is relevant for time management mechanics because their use usually implies immediate costs and only future benefits. If some people discount future outcomes more steeply than others, they should also discount the future benefits of using time management mechanics more steeply and consequently use time management mechanics less often. This hypothesis was tested among 153 German white-collar workers. The steepness of time discounting was inferred from two common behavioral tasks that are typically used to measure time discounting. The use of time management mechanics was assessed using the Mechanics subscale of the Time Management Behavior Scale. Results showed the expected negative correlation between the time discounting measures and the use of time management mechanics. It is argued that time discounting should therefore become a topic taught in time management training.