I had no idea that the German term Zeitnot (pronounce: ‘tsite-note, meaning time trouble) is one used in the English language when playing chess with a time control. Of course, if you have to create more and more complex moves in order to outwit your opponent, playing against a clock causes additional nervosity. And that, in turn, might cause blunders. As I have played chess no more than a few dozen times, ages ago, I won’t even try to look into what these time controls look like, and who came up with the concept, and who might be a champion in never having been daunted by Zeitnot.
In fact, in the German language, if you feel you are running against the clock with anything and you are stressed out about meeting an involved deadline, that’s when one feels Zeitnot. It’s probably the least likely that we feel this way when playing chess, as only a few people I have ever known play(ed) chess, and I never met anybody in person who played TIMED chess.
I remember that when I worked as the editor-in-chief of a trade magazine, my colleagues and I were always stressed out about getting the material for the next magazine in time. How often did I email and/or call business partners to remind them of the deadline to send in whatever our contract was about?! Or checked whether all the ads had come in to be placed into the layout?! How often did we have to stretch deadlines and then to put in overtime to meet printing deadlines?! Yes, we managed in time. Always. But we were stressed out because of the Zeitnot.
These days, as an independent writer, I set up my own deadlines, often determined by events that I signed up for. I have decided to play it more leisurely in the future, again, and maybe NOT to publish two books a year, but maybe only one. Or sometimes none. Zeitnot doesn’t make good creators in any field.
Come to think of it, even if you might NOT think of yourself as a creator, you ARE most probably already in a holiday mood. Or not. Because you haven’t had the leisure to make plans yet, and Thanksgiving has been creeping up on you with the First Advent weekend right behind it. Do YOU feel Zeitnot now? That the clock is running against you because a whole lot still has to be done, and a large number of U.S. businesses are closed today to give their employees the chance to have a family celebration like everybody else? Just in case you wondered whether you could swiftly run to a store for last-minute groceries or similar, here is a list of all the closed stores today: https://www.retailmenot.com/blog/stores-closed-on-thanksgiving.html.
On the other hand, Zeitnot is often a self-imposed cause of stress. If you don’t have the time to craft Christmas cards, don’t! If you lack the time to bake cookies, go without them. If you don’t think you can manage to create another five-course holiday dinner – keep it simple! Put your love into whatever you ARE able to do. Because that LOVE will be perceived by everybody who is on the receiving end.
Be kind to yourself, and forget about stuffing too many tasks into too little time. Zeitnot? We got this. Happy Thanksgiving!
Susanne: While in the military in Germany, 1968-1972, I co-founded a German American chess club. We played with chess clocks and often had “blitz” chess, in which all moves must be completed in ten minutes.
Oh my, yes. I heard about blitz chess – and I think I referred to it in an article I wrote about Blitz a while ago. I bet you had lots of fun with this concept. Did you use a stop watch? Or another fancier gadget? (I saw what they can look like …)