Scientists Philip Gable and Bryan Pool of the University of Alabama recently decided to investigate the old saying “time flies when you are having fun”. Although they suspected there was some truth to the concept, they hypothesized that this only held true when you were engaged in ‘approach motivation’ or the desire to achieve a goal.
One of the experiments consisted of showing participants picture of positive images and recording their perception of the how long they viewed the image. Images consisted of neutral, pleasant and goal-oriented images (such as enticing dessert). As suspected, the studies confirmed that when participants viewed positive approach motivation or goal-oriented images they perceived time as passing quickly, reports Science Daily.
Interestingly, research also showed that viewing negative images did not evoke a slowing of time.
It appears that goal-oriented or approach motivation tasks speed our perception of time because they focus our attention into the future and allow us to filter out irrelevant thoughts and feelings.
So the next time your day feels like its never going to end, get involved in activities that are goal oriented to speed up your perception of the passing of time.
