One minute on a clock is always one minute. Yet we do not always experience it in the same way. When we are waiting for something, feeling bored or constantly checking the time, a few minutes can feel painfully slow. But when we are absorbed in a conversation, an activity or something we enjoy, we may suddenly realise that hours have passed. Time itself is not actually changing speed. What changes is the way our brain experiences it. Time perception is influenced by attention, emotions, arousal, motivation and memory. Why does time feel slower when we are waiting? When we are waiting for something, our attention can become focused on the passage of time itself. A minute spent waiting can feel much longer than a minute spent doing something engaging. The more closely we monitor the clock, the more aware we may become of each passing moment. Attention is one of the important factors that can influence our perception of duration. That is why the familiar feeling that “watching the clock m...
