How Stress Affects Your Perception of Time

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Time flies when I’m having fun, but when I’m stressed, minutes can feel like hours. This phenomenon highlights the complex relationship between stress, focus, and our perception of time.

When we are stressed or anxious, time just seems to slip by. The moments we wait for bad news drag on endlessly. A stressful day at work feels endless. Why is that? Stress activates the sympathetic nervous system and floods the body and brain with adrenaline, cortisol and other stress hormones.

These hormones sharpen our focus to deal with threats, but also distort our perception of time. Studies have shown that stressed people regularly underestimate time intervals compared to relaxed controls. The brain’s heightened alertness and increased sensory processing under stress make time feel extended. We perceive more sensory details and encode them so that it seems longer.

Research also shows that chronic stress affects the brain’s dopamine systems, which are associated with time perception. Dopamine cells encode time intervals, and stress-induced dopamine changes distort these signals. Lower dopamine levels under stress cause time to pass more slowly.

In addition to hormones and neurotransmitters, stress limits our attention to immediate threats. We fixate on our stressor and lose awareness of how time is passing. Have you ever noticed that hours pass when you’re anxiously waiting for results?

In addition, worrying thoughts that accompany stress can further expand the subjective sense of time. Brooding thoughts often circle without resolution, leading to an endless time loop.

While small doses of acute stress sometimes increase disciplined focus and make time seem fleeting, chronic stress fundamentally alters our perception of time. When we are overworked, overstressed and anxious, our minutes fly by. Days turn into nights as we burn at both ends of the candle to keep up.

For leaders who guide organizations through accelerated change, it is critical to understand the relationship between stress and the perception of time. Change creates uncertainty and triggers stress. As leaders’ stress increases, their perception of time slows, while the pace of change around them accelerates. This bias can affect leaders’ ability to make cool decisions under pressure. Time seems to fly by as they anxiously wait for results. Days blur into one another as they work around the clock on change initiatives.

As a leader, you must be aware of stress’s temporal effects and consciously apply techniques to counteract them. Taking moments for mindfulness and self-care helps regulate stress hormones. Connecting with others provides perspective and social support. Structuring daily routines creates stability amidst chaos. Segmenting time into concentrated sprints with planned breaks enables focus. When leading through change, vigilant stress management preserves leaders’ precious resource of time and decision-making abilities when they are needed most.

To stay healthy and focused, you need to be aware of the time effects of stress. Slow down, take time to breathe, meditate or go for a walk. By breaking the cycle of chronic stress, we can reclaim our precious resource of time.