Try this exercise. Set your timer for one minute and start reading a book or magazine that you enjoy. Then, set your timer for one minute again and stare into
your spouse's or friend's eyes for one minute without taking your eyes off each other and without saying a word.
Chances are, that first minute is going to fly by so fast that you barely
have time to finish reading a page, but that second minute (even when you love the person you're staring at) is going to seem like an eternity.
Then think about a longer time period, like
two hours.
If you're frantically trying to get a work report or school paper completed by a deadline, your time is going to seem like it's whizzing by. You may feel like you have so much to
do in so little time.
Compare that to waiting in an airport idly for your flight that has been delayed by two hours. You'll likely be sitting and wondering why time seems to be standing
still.
Our perception of how quickly or slowly time goes by depends on the task/activity that is taking place, our comfort level with that task/activity, and how much we're enjoying (or not
enjoying) it.
In light of this, I'd love to hear from my GON subscribers on this very topic. Please reply to this newsletter with the below words...but fill in the blanks with your own
personal answers. I'll include your responses in an upcoming GON newsletter.
For example, "While I'm walking outside, I feel as if time has gone by in a blink, but when I'm on the treadmill, I feel like time is standing still." I can't wait to read your responses. Here
goes...
While I'm __________, I feel as if time has gone by in a blink, but when I'm __________, I feel like time is standing still.
