Time-discipline is a societal and economic construct popularized by British historian EP Thompson, described as the moral obligation to fill every waking minute with productivity. It’s a direct byproduct of the establishment of clock time–the standardization and subsequent commodification of the once-abstract concept of time–turning it into units of currency that are not simply passed, but rather “spent” or “wasted.” Time discipline was brought about as a result of the Industrial Revolution, and is to this day mostly applied to the working class. While workers’ productivity was previously measured in the amount of work completed, time discipline introduced the idea of instead measuring it in intervals of time. Workers are expected to prioritize productivity over their personal lives and needs, leading to the demonization of leisure, especially for the working class. Any time taken by the workers for themselves is deemed a “waste,” which is in turn used to justify classism by deeming financial struggles a personal failing.

Historically, time-discipline has been reinforced through religious and societal norms. There is a belief in many religions–especially Puritanism, described by Thompson in Time, Work-Discipline, and Industrial Capitalism as having a “marriage of convenience with industrial capitalism–that lack of productivity leads to moral decay, which is reflected in the Puritan proverb “the devil finds work for idle hands.” Thompson also references the phrase “improve each shining hour” in his discussion of the relationship between time-discipline and Puritanism, which was coined by 18th century minister Isaac Watts in his poem Against Idleness and Mischief to instill in children the importance of not “wasting time” and caution against the spiritual corruption that leisure is thought to bring. In the modern day, the same sentiments are reflected in glorifying “the grind” and telling working-class people to “pull themselves up by their bootstraps.”

 

Sources:
Time, Work-Discipline, and Industrial Capitalism by EP Thompson, class reading.
Watts, Isaac. “Against Idleness and Mischief.” Divine and Moral Songs for Children. 1897. https://apps.lib.umich.edu/online-exhibits/exhibits/show/curiouser-and-curiouser/item/7088?exhibit=185&page=2412&return=2998.