The curious relativity of time

Changing the speed of time

Time is one of those concepts that no one really wants to mess with. We know that there are 60 seconds in a minute, 60 minutes to an hour, 24 hours to a day, 365 (and a quarter) days to a year and so on. We can’t argue with time.

And I don’t want to argue but I would like to question how the perception of time isn’t quite the same as the reality of time. As it seems that the perception of time can change depending on how we feel.

Sometimes time goes so slow

When I’m waiting for a train or for an extremely dull meeting to end, time goes so slow it almost stops. I end up wishing away the time.

Sometimes time goes so fast

When I’m with friends lost in conversation or deep in a project, time goes so fast it feels like it’s disappeared and the hours vanished away.

Time doesn’t change

Our perception of time changes based on what we’re doing and how we’re feeling. When we’re waiting for things to happen, waiting for the weekend or for that holiday, we don’t appreciate the moments we are in. And when we’re so in the moment, we lose time without appreciating it being there.

Trying to manage time

We all like to have a sense that we are in control of our time, it helps to add some certainty to our days. So we fill our calendars and try to manage time in a way we deem fit. Sometimes this makes us gets lots done, and sometimes this leaves us spending time stressed and overwhelmed.

Time is relative to the moment

If you knew how much time you had left in this world would you measure how you use it in a different way? What if you have 40 more summers or 10 more winters? What would you slow down and do? What would you speed up to get done? What needs to happen for you to spend more time on the things you want to spend time on?

This post is part of a series of atomic essays on Twitter for #Ship30for30