Changing Perceptions of Time?

Hey everyone... just have something I wanna share.

So I have always had talent for music and rhythm; music has always been a big part of my life. From playing piano, trumpet, guitar and drums, to listening to everything from John Lee Hooker to Rammstein, I have always loved music and music has been a part of my life since I can remember.

So back when I was in my early teenage years, I had a pretty precise digital watch that counted seconds. Being as un-focused as I was in school, I would spend a lot of classes, especially towards the end, watching the second count on my watch. Being able to remember the beats per minute pretty easily (60 bpm for seconds obviously), I would come to memorize what I thought was the speed of the countdown, except for a problem that started to arise.

Sometimes, observing my watch, I would notice that time (as perceived through the second count on my watch), would regularly change speed. Some days the seconds would pass by faster, other times slower.

I also started to notice, as I finally aquired an MP3 player, that the same phenomena would happen when I listened to music, and still does today. Sometimes the BPM's of a song will seem to be faster or slower then the last time I listened... and I'm not talking about small changes- I'm talking about really noticeable changes that almost freak me out. One day a song will seem to be slow, the next day it would seem twice as fast as the last time I heard it.

Now it's obvious that the BPM's don't speed up or slow down... so the only conclusion I can reach is that my subjective perception of time changes... possibly due to the state of mind I am in- i.e. relaxed, agitated, angry, ect.

Now this isn't something that really bugs me or drives me insane... it just kind of creeps me out that sometimes time seems to have incredibly sped up or slowed down.

So I'm wondering if anyone else has experienced this kind of "time" change... and what reasons you think are behind it?

I think it'd be fair to say we all have.

Some days it seems like just a few hours have passed and I'm already off of work, others it's like time just drags

I've always noticed it and notice it when listening to music or watching movies as well. I have no real idea as to why it would happen.

On a similar note, I read a theory from a poster a while back suggesting why we feel like time flies as we get older: Say you are in your 50th year. well, this year seems so much faster bc it is 1/50 of your life. Such a small fraction. when you are 5, its only 1/5 of your life.

I wonder if what you are speaking about has any relation. Although it is rather random with seconds speeding up or slowing down....who knows...I guess i'll pay attention to this thread see if anything comes up that makes sense

reply to post by Monts

Now it's obvious that the BPM's don't speed up or slow down... so the only conclusion I can reach is that my subjective perception of time changes... possibly due to the state of mind I am in- i.e. relaxed, agitated, angry, ect.

I think you have it right here.

Try this experiment. Find a quiet room with a wall clock that has a second hand. Watch the second tick for 15 seconds, then focus you gaze on some other part of the room for a minute of two. Then switch your eyes back to the clock. That first tic after you switch your gaze seems to take a lot longer when I have tried it.

reply to post by Monts


I noticed that exact thing! Sometimes I listen to a song slot and sometimes it is lower tempo other times it is faster than usual. I think it's in the mind. Like someone probably already said, the mind tarts to perceive time differentally