Tidsmønster

Tidsmønster is a term used to describe the temporal structure of events, activities, or processes—the way time is allocated, distributed, and repeated. A tidsmønster can be regular or irregular, periodic or episodic, and it may refer to patterns at the level of an individual, a group, or a system.

The concept appears in several disciplines. In chronobiology and sleep research, tidsmønster relates to rhythms such as the circadian cycle and ultradian cycles, including patterns of wakefulness, activity, and hormone release. In time-use research, it denotes how people arrange daily activities (work, care, leisure, rest) across days and weeks. In epidemiology and public health, it can describe the timing of health-related events or interventions. In economics and operations research, tidsmønster describes demand, traffic, or energy usage over time. In data analysis, it is used to characterize the temporal distribution of timestamped observations or events.

Methods to study tidsmønster include time-use diaries, activity trackers, and sensor data, analyzed with time-series techniques, sequence analysis, and clustering. Researchers may examine regularities, seasonality, or shifts in patterns in response to policy changes, lifestyle factors, or technological innovations.

Examples include a person’s daily routine (wake time, meals, work hours), seasonal work shifts, or traffic flow over a day. Understanding tidsmønster can inform health interventions, urban planning, and resource management.

See also: time-use research, time series, circadian rhythm, temporal pattern.