How to slow down time and enjoy life

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Unfortunately, space and time are beyond our control. But our perception of time can be changed. It is determined by factors such as attention and emotional arousal.

We are often surprised at how quickly time flies. The average life expectancy in Russia is approximately 71 years, in the United States - 79 years. But some people live much longer and look at the world with wide eyes. Not literally, of course.

Everyone knows that time flies by when we are doing something enjoyable. As you know, happy hours are not observed. And time slows down when we find ourselves in some extreme or unusual situations for us.

Let's remember the films. In them, the most dangerous moments for the life of the protagonist are often highlighted using slow motion. And this is not just a visual metaphor. Former first racket of the world John McEnroe once described this phenomenon this way:

Everything slows down, the ball seems much larger, and you feel like you have more time to hit it.

If our idea of how time goes by were true, we would not have to use the clock so often. The good thing about subjective time is that it can be controlled. At least to some extent. Scientists have found that our perception of time is influenced by two main factors: attention and emotional arousal. And here's how you can manipulate them.

Connect to the present

Research by Peter Ulric Tse. … when the focus of our attention shifts to something new, time seems to slow down for us. Think of situations when you got to some place where you have never been before. Everything was new for you in this place, and, most likely, you were completely focused on studying the objects around you. Then, when you walked back, you probably thought that time passed faster.

Obviously, you cannot walk the same street twice for the first time. But there is another way to slow down subjective time with the help of attention. To better concentrate on what is happening, you just need to become more aware of it. Scientists have confirmed Aviva Berkovich-Ohana. … that mindfulness meditation, which is necessary in order to learn to be fully present in the present moment, slows down subjective time.

On the other hand, if you are only dealing with one specific task, time passes very quickly. As neuroscientists have confirmed, the more you are involved in something, the sooner the time flies by Anthony Chaston, Alan Kingstone. … … For example, on Sunday you finally decided to decorate the nursery or put things in order in the house, but suddenly you realize that the day has come to an end, and in a few hours you will have to go to work again.

Therefore, in order to slow down or speed up the subjectively perceived time, you should control how much attention, quantitatively and qualitatively, you pay to a particular object or process.

Engage emotions

In situations that cause you strong emotions, make your heart beat faster, you also feel that time passes more slowly. Psychologists call this state of emotional arousal.

In one experiment, Jason Tipples. … the researchers showed participants angry or happy faces that elicited an emotional response from the subjects. Participants confirmed that, according to their subjective feelings, these faces were shown to them for longer than non-emotional faces. In fact, the time was the same in the first and second cases.

In addition, during the experiment, brain scans of the subjects showed a difference in brain activity in those parts of it that are responsible for the subjective perception of time. Perhaps this is why, at crucial moments in a competition, athletes feel as if time is slowing down.

Another study by Chess Stetson. … was held at a more extreme level. The participants had to experience the state of free fall. The purpose of the experiment was to greatly scare the participants and trace their perception of time. As the study showed, the time for them really slowed down (in numerical terms - by 36%). During the flight, the participants did not feel the slow motion effect, but when they thought about the flight, it seemed to them that it took much longer than it actually did.

This does not mean that you need to do parachute jumps to slow down subjective time. It's all about emotion.

conclusions

So, so that time does not pass so quickly, change your activities and try to be more aware of what is happening. Mindfulness in general helps us to feel and enjoy everything we do. Or you can give yourself an emotional jolt from time to time. It works equally well both positively (pleasant excitement, excitement) and negatively (anger). You can combine both.

As for the common claim that time passes faster when you are doing something enjoyable, in fact this is true. It turns out that the connection between your subjective perception of time and the enjoyment of the activity you are doing at that time is stronger than you might imagine. Scientists have proven Aaron M. Sackett. … that it works in the opposite direction. When we feel like time has flown by quickly, we tend to think we have spent it well.

Sometimes we want to feel better about the present. And sometimes it's just fun. The subjective perception of time is exclusively yours, and you have to dispose of it. And that's great.