Is your Time Perception Distorted?

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Is your time perception distorted? In some ways it is, in other ways it is not. I cannot automatically keep a steady beat to a musical song one minute long. I usually have an acceptable sense of daytime. If I wake up in the middle of the night and am semi-sleeping, my sense of time can be off as in thinking 30 minutes have passed vs 1 1/4 actual hours. If I wake up and am really awake in the middle of the night, my sense of time can be semi-accurate as in feeling twenty minutes passed and it was really nineteen or twenty-one minutes. Sometimes I can project ahead one year or five years (in a way); at other times, it is more difficult. At the same time I do believe the future is unpredictable (simplified). A simple written annual calendar book has helped me a little. I was not born with an ability to sustain a character as an actor does during a thirty minute stage play where lots of timing/the ability to sustain attention is needed to carry out the role and interact with other actors/actresses.

I have a very "now" mindset. The past and future are not solid things in my mind. They are very tenuous and flighty. I wonder if this is an executive functioning thing.

My perception of time is distorted. Time seems to move more slowly for me than it does for others. Days feel like weeks, weeks feel like months, and months feel like years. I'll say something like, "oh, I was into that a few years ago" and then I'll find a drawing, diary entry or even a forum post dated only a few months to one year back and I'll feel surprised. Or I'll say something like "I've been waiting half an hour" and I'll look at the clock and only ten minutes have passed. That's why sitting through entire movies or even full episodes of TV shows in one sitting feels agonizing to me, because my mind will race and I feel like I've been sitting still in front of the TV for an eternity when it's only been like an hour and a half.

I think I have this experience too.

don't really get the concept of time, past and future doesn't really have much significance to me which I think means time passess without me really noticing, spose you could say I'm only concerned about what's happening now but then again people might say 'be here NOW' cause it's kind of like I'm off day dreaming or something.

Everyone's time perception is distorted or modified from time to time (sic!). This could be due to fatigue, illness or pressures arising from one's situation. Sometimes time goes slow, at other times it seems to be sped up. During a life threatening situation most people go into slow motion mode. This is actually a pro-survival characteristic.

ruveyn

Yes. If I'm writing a post for WP between tasks at work, I have to use a timer. Seems that time goes by very quickly when I'm focussed. I'm always surprised when I look up at the clock. A few years ago when my employers were making me work very hard, whole weeks would seem to go by in minutes.

I'm kind of like that, too. I feel like I was born when I was about in junior high, and then started moving forward and backward at the same time. But nobody really said that linear time perception is the only correct way to go about it, so I wouldn't really call it "distorted". Maybe there are some beings that remember their future but not their past.

Another time related issue I have is that this culture moves "too fast". Basically, I am expected to respond to a continual flow of information, quickly and accurately. But, for me at least, there is TOO MUCH information and I cannot assimilate, process and integrate it to a level where I am comfortable operating on it. I need a slower pace, where I can let my thoughts follow their own course and arrive at an level of integration where I feel at ease with a decision or conclusion.

There is a tempo mismatch between my mind and the world at large. The NT world moves prestissimo while I move andagissimo.

Yes.

My personal beliefs mean that I believe if you focus on the present moment time will slow down for you. For a child a year lasts for a hundred years because they are so in the moment. As people get older they start to say life is short for example. Since I've improved my mental and physical health I've noticed days slowing down a bit which is rewarding.

But if I meditate I find time speeds up dramatically. I once meditated for what felt like 40-50mins and looked at the clock to find to my horror that several hours had passed. It's more your perception of time which is important.

no way. i'm always on time!

yes, time passes very fast for me. Often a week has gone by and it seems like only a day has passed for me. People will say they haven't seen me in a very long time and I feel like I just saw them. Things that happened a year ago seem like they just happened a few days ago. I'm 50 now and it seems like the older I get the faster time goes by.