The bad news is time flies. The good news is you’re the pilot. ~Michael Altshuler
He’s right, at least in part. There are a variety of factors that impact our perception of life’s experiences as they hurtle by. Or dawdle, as the case may be. Have you ever launched a self-survey to determine the root cause of either outcome? Me either. Not until now.
Science First
The easy answer is engagement, but there’s more to it. In a 2012 article, Barefield College of Arts & Sciences provided a few researchers’ theories published in Psychological Science*. Phillip Gable and Bryan Pool’s findings indicate that while we enjoy tasks that may result in contentment, they aren’t primarily associated with “time flying”. You know, that feeling you get when you’re completely immersed in an activity and are gobsmacked when you realize you’ve been down a rabbit hole for hours instead of the thirty minutes you would have estimated. This may be because you have associated your task with a goal, and you are focused on getting ‘er done. They called this “approach motivation”.
The article described experiments in which participants were asked to judge how long they were given to view a series of images — a “short” time or a “long” time. The images included flowers, geometric designs, and mouthwatering desserts. Shocker. The participants’ perception was that they had less time to look at the desserts than the other images. Also, the participants that had not eaten just before the experiment were much more likely to rate the dessert images as a “short” time, especially if they thought they might get to eat some of them soon.
To summarize, the possibility of a sweet treat at the end of the experiment motivaationed participants–whether or not they were aware of what drove them. I am no scientist, but a similar result would emerge with bibliophiles if they substituted books for desserts. With this mindset, the perception is that the time allowed for viewing the desserts was less than the other object, even though it wasn’t. Time passed quickly as they viewed what they desired and hoped to gain.
Gable and Pool propose that approach motivation “narrows our memory and attention processes”. This means we shut out stimuli that do not advance the goal. We are attacking a challenge that blocks out the world. Subsequently, we aren’t clock-watching, and probably don’t hear when someone is speaking to us. The latter is from my own experience.
Ok. Science Again, But Another Perspective
In a July, 2025 article published by Psyche, Martin Weiner offers physiological details. He states that the brain does not have a centralized area that perceives time passing. Rather, research results from the last thirty years reveal that each of our senses has its very own timer. This means we are all getting inputs from vision, touch, hearing, taste, and olfactory senses. That’s complicated enough, but external influences play a part as well. For example, lab experiments show that time “slows down” when people view something disturbing or emotional. In contrast, when viewing a scene that is cluttered or where the stimuli have little contrast with the background, it seems that time is passing more quickly. The latter seems counter-intuitive to me, but I don’t make the rules.
In this same article, the author proposes that our perception of time is linked to memorability. As an example, when we view an image with faces, we likely think we looked at it for less time than an image without a face. However, we are more likely to remember the image that we thought made time slow down.
Does the Speed of Time Matter?
The answer is, of course, subjective. It’s all perception, anyway. But when time seems to fly by like a supersonic aircraft, we may be at risk of unintentionally deleting those memories. If we’re talking about a day at work where we were fully absorbed and reached our goals, who cares whether we remember it–whatever “it” was? But if the memory contained a few days with one of our kids and their families, it’s a different story. We would want to retain that memory for future enjoyment. The Psyche article previously referenced has suggestions for making time slow down. You’ll want to read the full article for the best understanding of the author’s intent, but here’s the list:
- Seek new experiences.
- Use meditation.
- Be aware of time malleability.
Will these suggestions work? I don’t know. Meditation is out; I’d just go to sleep, but the other two are in play. I’ve been seeking new experiences for a great while; that’s a done deal. The time malleability is what I need to work on. With practice, I can make time stretch to some degree, and that way those good times will be with me to the end.
I am certain that I have much less time left than I have already lived. That makes me hyper-aware of the value of each new day I’m blessed with, and, in my opinion, also contributes to the speed with which I see life whiz by. All the more reason to make every minute count. I will leave you with a quote attributed to Hunter S. Thompson, who wanted to go to the grave “thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming ‘Wow! What a ride!'”
I am astonished at how much I forget. And the experience of thinking I want to do something and thinking I did it (whether I did or not). Thanks for the topic!
Could the speed of time have something to do with scientists’ assertion that the universe is rapidly expanding? The answer is certainly above my pay grade!
Glad you asked. Time slows the closer you travel to the speed of light. According to the red shift of light on the spectrum, galaxies are moving away from each other at the speed of light. What that means for them is , theoretically they are experiencing no time progression, just as a photon of light experiences none. Gravity also slows time. And must be compensated for in gps satellites which are moving fast, therefore slowing time and yet farther away thereby accelerating time. If not compensated for our gps navigation would be in error. Of course from a person observing it relative.
If you want it to end, time goes by slowly. If you do not want it to end, time flys. 40 minutes in the dentist office is a lot longer than 40 min. having a glass of wine with a friend.