4. Emotions Distort Time

Your emotional state changes how your brain processes events.

• Anxiety speeds up internal clocks — everything feels urgent.

• Boredom slows time to a crawl.

• Joy makes time feel light and fast.

• Stress makes moments feel sharper and longer.
  Your emotions influence the brain’s “time impression,” shaping your lived experience minute by minute.

5. Memory Plays Tricks With How You Recall Time

How you remember time often has nothing to do with how you experienced it. Moments packed with detail feel longer in hindsight because the brain stored more information. Simple days feel shorter because there’s less data to recall. This is why vacations feel long in memory but fast while you’re living them.

6. Technology Makes You Lose Time Without Realizing

Scrolling, binge-watching, or clicking through content hijacks your attention. These activities trigger micro-rewards that keep your brain stimulated in short, repetitive bursts. Because the tasks are easy and immersive, your sense of time collapses. You don’t feel the minutes passing — and you don’t store many memories of them either.

7. You Can Shape Your Time Experience

You can’t control time, but you can influence how you experience it.

• Add small moments of novelty to your day.

• Seek out activities that put you in flow.

• Slow down when you feel overwhelmed.

Take mental breaks to reset your perception.
Your sense of time becomes clearer and more balanced when you engage intentionally with your day.