We’ve all been there – clock-watching in a tedious meeting, counting down the minutes until the workday ends, or feeling like time is crawling when you’re stuck doing something you dislike. It’s a universal frustration: wanting time to move faster. You’re not alone in wondering if there’s a way to literally make time fly.
While we can’t bend the laws of physics to manipulate time itself (no time machines here, unfortunately, and relativity-based time dilation is a bit extreme for the average Tuesday afternoon!), we absolutely can alter our perception of time. The good news is, there are scientifically-backed strategies that can make time feel like it’s speeding by.
If you’re eager to learn How To Make Time Fly and escape those slow-motion moments, keep reading. We’ve compiled a list of effective, evidence-based tricks to help you shift your perception and make your day feel significantly faster.
Why Does Time Drag? Understanding the Perception of Slow Time
Before diving into solutions for making time fly, it’s important to understand why time sometimes feels like it’s moving at a snail’s pace. Often, this sensation boils down to a few key factors:
- Hyper-awareness of Time: Ever heard the saying “a watched pot never boils?” This perfectly illustrates how focusing intently on time makes it feel slower. Constantly checking the clock or dwelling on how slowly time is passing only amplifies the feeling of time dragging. It becomes a self-perpetuating cycle of slow time perception.
- Lack of Engagement: Time typically “flies” when we’re engrossed in an activity. Think about being absorbed in a captivating movie, deeply focused on a challenging puzzle, or enjoying lively conversation with friends. In these situations, our active engagement shifts our focus away from time, making it seem to pass quickly. Conversely, when we’re disengaged, time stretches out.
- Novelty Deficiency: Familiar routines often fade into the background of our awareness. Consider your daily commute – do you consciously remember every detail? Probably not. Familiarity leads to less attention and weaker memory encoding, creating the sensation that time has passed quickly. Conversely, new experiences demand more attention and create stronger memories, often making time feel slower as we’re more aware of each moment. While novelty can be enriching, being stuck in a new, unpleasant situation can make time agonizingly slow.
- Boredom and Discomfort: Pleasant experiences, like vacations or enjoyable social events, seem to vanish in an instant. Unpleasant ones, such as dentist appointments or dull presentations, feel interminable. Boredom, discomfort, and negative emotions consistently contribute to the sensation of time slowing down.
- Altered States: It’s worth briefly mentioning that certain substances and extreme conditions can warp time perception. Hallucinogenic drugs like mescaline or DMT are known to distort time for some users. Similarly, sensory deprivation can lead to bizarre time distortions. However, these are unlikely to be relevant (or desirable!) solutions for making your workday feel faster.
Alt text: Clock face showing hands near twelve, illustrating the desire to make time pass quickly.
8 Actionable Strategies to Make Time Fly
Now that we understand the culprits behind slow-feeling time, let’s explore practical strategies to accelerate your perceived passage of time. These tricks are designed to shift your focus and engagement, effectively making time feel like it’s flying by.
1. Break Free From the Clock’s Grip
Experts across various fields agree: ditching the clock-watching habit is paramount to making time feel faster. As noted in The Atlantic, time perception authorities like Alan Burdick and psychologist William James emphasize this point. James famously wrote, “A day full of excitement, with no pause, is said to pass ’ere we know it.’ On the contrary, a day full of waiting, of unsatisfied desire for change, will seem a small eternity.”
In today’s world, clocks are ubiquitous. They’re on our phones, computers, watches, and office walls, constantly displaying the relentless march of time. If you want to make time fly, actively resist the urge to check the time constantly.
A simple yet effective tactic is to block visual reminders of time whenever possible. Consider placing a sticky note over the clock on your computer screen or turning your watch face away from you. The key is to redirect your attention away from the relentless ticking of the clock and onto something more engaging.
2. Embrace the Power of Routine (Yes, Really!)
Routines might sound monotonous, but they possess a surprising time-warping quality: they become forgettable.
When you operate within a predictable routine, your brain can essentially go into autopilot. While this might not be the ideal state for peak productivity or profound fulfillment in every aspect of life, it’s incredibly effective for making time speed by.
Depending on your circumstances, implementing a routine can range from straightforward to challenging. Some tasks inherently defy predictability, while others can be almost completely automated. To make your day feel faster, strive for consistency wherever you can. The more routine your tasks, the faster your day will likely seem to pass.
3. Dive into the Flow State
The ultimate time-acceleration technique is to achieve a state of flow.
Flow, in psychology, describes a state of complete absorption in an activity. It’s characterized by intense focus, energized attention, and a sense of being fully immersed in the present moment. You might also know it as being “in the zone.”
When you’re in a flow state, the clock becomes irrelevant. You’re so deeply engaged in what you’re doing that time fades into the background. Hours can vanish without you even noticing.
So, how do you unlock this coveted flow state?
While there are various theories, the general consensus is that flow emerges when you strike the perfect balance between interest and challenge. The activity should be genuinely engaging and hold your interest. Simultaneously, it should be challenging enough to prevent boredom, but not so overwhelming that it induces stress or frustration.
Achieving flow is effortless when you have complete freedom of activity choice. Some find flow playing sports like basketball, others in creative pursuits like painting or writing, and still others in seemingly mundane tasks like gardening or even washing dishes. If you’re at work or school, your options might be more limited. In these situations, consider seeking out aspects of your responsibilities that you find more engaging or challenging, or look for opportunities to reframe tasks to make them more interesting.
Alt text: A person intensely focused on their laptop, representing the concentration of a flow state.
4. Chunk Time into Manageable Blocks
This might seem counterintuitive to the advice of ignoring the clock, but strategically breaking down your time can also make it feel faster. Consider using time blocking techniques or apps (explore our guide on the best time blocking apps).
Instead of viewing time as a vast, daunting expanse, divide it into smaller, more digestible segments. For example, instead of facing an 8-hour workday from 9 to 5, which can feel overwhelming, mentally break it down into smaller blocks. Focus on working for the next 30 minutes until your next break or meeting.
By segmenting your day into smaller chunks, you create more frequent “milestones.” These closer milestones make progress feel more tangible and time seem to move more swiftly as you continually approach these smaller goals.
Boost Your Team’s Email Response Time by 42.5% With EmailAnalytics
- 35-50% of sales are won by the first vendor to respond.
- Following up within an hour boosts your success chances by 7x.
- Professionals spend 50% of their workday managing email on average.
TRY IT FREE
5. Divide and Conquer Unpleasant Tasks
Recall that unpleasantness is a major time-slowing factor. While you can’t eliminate all undesirable tasks, you can strategically approach them to minimize their time-dragging effect.
The strategy? Break down unpleasant tasks into smaller segments.
Tackling four 15-minute chunks of a disliked task spread across a couple of days is often far less daunting than forcing yourself through a single, continuous 60-minute slog. For most people, shorter bursts of unpleasantness are more psychologically manageable and feel like they take up less time overall.
While this tip has its limitations – some tasks are simply indivisible, like a mandatory 2-hour meeting – wherever possible, splitting up unpleasant duties can significantly improve your perception of time.
6. Add a Background Soundtrack (or Podcast, or Show)
Here’s another tactic for tackling less-than-thrilling tasks: introduce background entertainment.
Think of it like this: strong, unpalatable flavors can be made more palatable by mixing them with something enjoyable. Similarly, you can “chase” unpleasant tasks with enjoyable background stimuli.
For repetitive or tedious tasks, a podcast or audiobook can be a great companion. For research or other mentally engaging but potentially boring work, background music can inject some energy and make the time pass more pleasantly. Depending on the nature of the task, even a non-disruptive TV show playing in the background might be an option.
Exercise caution, though. Background entertainment could potentially become a distraction and hinder your productivity. However, even if it slightly reduces your efficiency, the subjective improvement in your time perception might be a worthwhile trade-off. You might spend 15% longer on the task, but if it feels significantly less tedious and time-consuming, it could be a net win.
7. Prioritize Activities You Actually Enjoy
This one is straightforward: fun makes time fly. It’s the magic behind why vacations, holidays, captivating movies, and delightful meals seem to disappear in the blink of an eye.
To make time go faster, consciously incorporate activities you genuinely enjoy into your day. If you’re at work, this might mean taking short breaks to play a quick game, work on a puzzle, or connect with a loved one for a brief chat. Whenever feasible, intersperse less enjoyable tasks with tasks you find more engaging or at least tolerable.
If boredom is making time crawl at home, you have even more flexibility. Engage in hobbies, watch a favorite movie, read a book, play games, create art, build something, learn a new skill online – the possibilities are vast. This is arguably the most universally appealing and effective method for making time fly.
If you find yourself saying “I don’t enjoy anything,” it might be time to explore new hobbies. Try learning a craft, picking up a musical instrument, or asking friends about their passions and trying something new alongside them.
8. Engage Your Mind with Mental Challenges
Imagine you’re stuck in a long line at the DMV or gridlocked in traffic. Hobbies are inaccessible, task-switching is impossible – you’re simply stuck. How do you make time pass faster in these situations?
The answer: mental challenges. Engage your mind with a stimulating activity. Pick a category – animals, countries, historical figures – and try to name something within that category for each letter of the alphabet.
Try mental math exercises, like counting to 10,000 in intervals of 17.
Practice explaining a complex concept to an imaginary child.
Any mental exercise that demands focus and engagement will effectively divert your attention from the slow-moving situation and make time feel like it’s accelerating.
Want one more trick to make time fly, especially in your workday? Boost your productivity with tools like EmailAnalytics.
EmailAnalytics provides insights into your email habits, from email volume to average response time. By understanding how you spend time on email, you can optimize your workflow and reclaim valuable time.
Start your free trial today and take control of your time management!
Related posts:
[
21 Email Monitoring Tools and Software that Will Boost Productivity and Accountability](https://emailanalytics.com/21-email-monitoring-tools-and-software-that-will-boost-productivity-and-accountability/)## 17 Gmail Organization Tips to Improve Your Productivity## 12 Employee Productivity Tracking Software Tools Every Manager Needs to Be Using
Jayson DeMers
Jayson is a long-time columnist for Forbes, Entrepreneur, BusinessInsider, Inc.com, and various other major media publications, where he has authored over 1,000 articles since 2012, covering technology, marketing, and entrepreneurship. He keynoted the 2013 MarketingProfs University, and won the “Entrepreneur Blogger of the Year” award in 2015 from the Oxford Center for Entrepreneurs. In 2010, he founded a marketing agency that appeared on the Inc. 5000 before selling it in January of 2019, and he is now the CEO of EmailAnalytics.
