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As per the title, why is it some days it just feels like a day can go so fast, yet other days can feel slow? Every day has the same amount of hours, minutes and seconds after all. What is the actual science behind our state of mind when we feel like this?

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Aside: "Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute, and it seems like an hour. Sit with a pretty girl for an hour, and it seems like a minute. That's relativity." - Albert Einstein (apparently) –  Eoin Mar 10 '14 at 17:34
Definitely related to time perception –  BenCole Mar 10 '14 at 18:44
As the time perception article that Ben mentions points out, there are many things that impact time perception. If you get into a flow state where you are working very efficiently and your mind is consumed by the task, time seems to pass very quickly. If you are in a state of anticipation, waiting for or dreading of something happening, time will seem to pass more slowly. This also occurs when you are bored and waiting for the end of the school or work day. The interesting thing is mindfulness. If you enter the flow state while very mindful, time seems to slow, again. –  John Yetter Mar 11 '14 at 5:12

1 Answer 1

Several factors are proven to affect our experience of time. Those that differ from one day to the next include:

  • Biochemistry affects our perception of time.

    Stimulants produce overestimates of time duration, whereas depressants and anesthetics produce underestimates of time duration. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_perception

  • Fear affects our perception of time:



    "In this way, frightening events are associated with richer and denser memories," Eagleman explained. "And the more memory you have of an event, the longer you believe it took." http://www.brainpickings.org/2013/07/15/time-warped-claudia-hammond/ http://www.livescience.com/2117-time-slow-emergencies.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_perception

  • Our attention affects our perception of time:

    Wearden et al. (2014) administered a questionnaire which asked about passage of time in different drug and emotional states, and generally found that situations associated with “distraction” from time were associated with faster passage of time, in accord with the idea that “attention to time” is an important determinant of time judgements. http://www.mind-and-brain.de/postdoctoral-program/scientific-events/archive/time/

  • Having fun(or not):




  • Being tired:

    When we’re tired, though, our perception of time goes awry and we find it more difficult to distinguish between short spaces of time. This fact can be used to measure whether people are too tired to fly a plane, drive a truck or be a doctor. Indeed just such simple hand-held devices that quickly assess your tiredness are already being developed (Eagleman, 2009). http://www.spring.org.uk/2011/06/10-ways-our-minds-warp-time.php

  • Emotional self-regulation:



  • Body temperature:

    Experiments have found that when body temperature is raised our perception of time speeds up (Wearden & Pento-Voak, 1995). Conversely when we are cooled down, our sense of time also slows down. http://www.spring.org.uk/2011/06/10-ways-our-minds-warp-time.php

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