Time Machine
A digital journal that reconnects you to yourself and community over time.
Time machine is an app that helps people form healthy time perspectives and integrate themselves across time, through the medium of unconditional love. It is based on the time perspective work from Philip Zimbardo’s group, narrative psychology work from John Adler and Dan McAdams, and the work on epic meaning from Ernest Becker and Jane McGonigal.
We know that having a balanced time perspective can create all kinds of positive outcomes, from personal to organizational to global, and we have found success with pilot groups who are interested in substance abuse recovery, veteran trauma healing, and intergenerational healing in Tribal nations.
For the general population, the app facilitates well-being and feelings of interconnectedness.
The short term goal is to enable people to build their own stable, epic narratives that they want to be present for every day and share with their communities.
The longer term vision is that individuals who have built the “muscle” to be conduits for unconditional love, and who feel integrated enough to share this skill, will have a “bottom up” impact on our institutions.
Funding for Time Machine was provided in part by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to help develop the app’s secure backend, root it in current scientific thought, and make the app accessible to more people.
Results
Time Machine’s impact was demonstrated in a peer reviewed paper where 96 participants improved scores in self-reported time perspective, feelings of unconditional love and overall well-being.
Results
Time Machine’s impact was demonstrated in a peer reviewed paper where 96 participants improved scores in self-reported time perspective, feelings of unconditional love and overall well-being.
Theoretical backing
Boniwell, I., & Zimbardo, P. (2004).
Balancing Time Perspective in Pursuit of Optimal Functioning. In P. A. Linley, & S. Joseph (Eds.), Positive Psychology in Practice (pp. 165-179). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
The birth and death of meaning: An interdisciplinary perspective on the problem of man (2nd ed.). Free Press.