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We’re ruled by the clock. What does it cost us?


Part 1 of TED Radio Hour episode “The art of choosing what to do

Living by the clock is a relatively new concept. It works for some, but others see time as a string of events. Psychologist Anne-Laure Sellier explains what we lose when we track our days so closely.

About Anne-Laure Sellier

Anne-Laure Sellier is a professor of behavioral sciences at HEC Paris. Her research focuses on how time perception affects decision-making, creativity, self-regulation and emotion. Her previous experience includes working at the London Business School, the Stern Business School of New York University and the Columbia Business School.

She serves as a member of the operational committee of Hi! Paris, the Center for Research on Artificial Intelligence and Big Data for Business and Society.

She is the author of Le Pouvoir des Prénoms and La Science des Prénoms, two books written in French that explore how a person’s name could affect other aspects of their life.

This segment of  TED Radio Hour was produced by James Delahoussaye and edited by Sanaz Meshkinpour. You can follow us on Facebook (TED Radio Hour) and email us at [email protected].

Related Web Resources

Related TED Talk: Active Listening and Our Perception of Time

Related TED Talk: Do you talk to yourself? Here’s how to harness your inner voice

Related TED Topics: Psychology

Related NPR Links

TED Radio Hour: How your heartbeat shapes your sense of time

Short Wave: Time Cells Don’t Really Care About Time

TED Radio Hour: How focusing on the past, present or future shapes our experience of time

Copyright 2025 NPR

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Manoush Zomorodi is the host of TED Radio Hour. She is a journalist, podcaster and media entrepreneur, and her work reflects her passion for investigating how technology and business are transforming humanity.

Zomorodi is a co-founder of Stable Genius Productions and is the co-host and co-creator of ZigZag, the business podcast about being human. She also created, hosted, and was managing editor of the podcast Note to Self in partnership with WNYC Studios, which was named Best Tech Podcast of 2017 by The Academy of Podcasters.

Prior to her time at WNYC, Zomorodi reported and produced around the world for BBC News and Thomson Reuters, including a few years in Berlin.

She was named one of Fast Company's 100 Most Creative People in Business for 2018 and has received numerous awards for her work, including The Gracie for Best Radio Host in 2014 and 2018. Her book "Bored and Brilliant: How Spacing Out Can Unlock Your Most Creative Self" (2017, St. Martin's Press) and her TED Talk are guides to surviving information overload and the "Attention Economy."

Zomorodi received a bachelor's degree from Georgetown University in English and fine arts. She is half-Persian and half-Swiss but was born in New York City, where she lives with her family.

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