How Media Construct Time Management: A Linguistic Analysis (2020–2025)

Abstract

This study investigates how English-language media linguistically construct the concept of time management through the use of metaphor and framing strategies during the period from 2020 to 2025. Adopting a mixedmethods qualitative discourse-analytical approach, the research examines a corpus of 25 media texts (approximately 48,000 words) drawn from influential outlets, including BBC, CNN, The Economist, Financial Times, The Guardian, and Harvard Business Review. These sources were selected to represent a range of journalistic genres, such as business journalism, lifestyle media, and professional advice discourse. The analysis combines the Metaphor Identification Procedure Vrije Universiteit (MIPVU) with frame-semantic analysis and systematic lexical classification to uncover recurring linguistic patterns in media representations of time.
The findings reveal four dominant metaphor families used to conceptualize time, namely TIME IS MONEY, TIME IS A RESOURCE, TIME IS A MOVING ENTITY, and TIME IS AN ENEMY. These metaphors are embedded within five recurring interpretive frames: productivity, urgency, self-optimization, wellness, and neoliberal responsibility. Together, these linguistic strategies contribute to the transformation of time from an abstract experiential dimension into a quantifiable, manageable, and morally charged resource. The study demonstrates that media discourse does not merely describe time management practices but actively shapes normative expectations regarding efficiency, responsibility, and self-discipline.
To illustrate the linguistic mechanisms underlying this transformation, the study proposes a conceptual model that distinguishes between the lexicon of time, the lexicon of time management, and their intersection, where hybrid expressions naturalize managerial approaches to temporal experience. The results contribute to media discourse studies, cognitive linguistics, and critical discourse analysis by providing a systematic account of how contemporary media participate in the ideological construction of time. The study also offers a theoretical foundation for future research on the relationship between language, media, and temporal perception in digitally accelerated societies.