What Causes ‘Time Perception’ to Change When We’re Bored or Excited?

When you're bored or excited, it feels like time is going slower or faster, just like when you’re waiting for your favorite toy to arrive.

Imagine you're sitting in a room with nothing to do, that’s being bored. Time seems to stretch out because there are no fun things happening around you. It's like watching the minutes pass on a slow, quiet clock. You might count every little sound or think about what you could be doing instead.

Now imagine you're playing your favorite game and you’re really excited, time feels like it’s zooming by! Everything happens fast, and you barely notice when the fun ends. It's like being on a rollercoaster: everything is moving so quickly that you don’t have time to think about anything else.

Your brain pays more attention to things that are interesting or fun. When you’re excited, your brain is busy having fun, so it doesn't notice the clock ticking, it's too busy being happy! But when you're bored, your brain notices every little thing, and that makes time feel longer.