Time Warped: Unlocking the Mysteries of Time Perception

“…a fascinating foray into the idea that our experience of time is actively created by our own minds and how these sensations of what neuroscientists and psychologists call “mind time” are created.” — Maria Popova, BrainPickings

Drawing on the latest research from the fields of psychology, neuroscience, and biology, writer and broadcaster Claudia Hammond explores the mysteries of our perception of time in her book Time Warped.

Why does life seem to speed up as we get older? Why does the clock in your head move at a different speed from the one on the wall? Why is it almost impossible to go a whole day without checking your watch? Is it possible to retrain our brains and improve our relationship with it?

In Time Warped, Claudia Hammond offers insight into how to manage our time more efficiently, how to speed time up and slow it down at will, how to plan for the future with more accuracy, and she teaches how to use the warping of time to our own benefit.

Why does life speed up as we get older? Why does the clock in your head sometimes move at a different speed from the one on the wall? Time rules our lives, but how much do we understand it? And is it possible to retrain our brains and improve our relationship with it?

Drawing on the latest research from the fields of psychology, neuroscience, and biology, and using original research on the way memory shapes our understanding of time, the acclaimed writer and BBC broadcaster Claudia Hammond delves into the mysteries of time perception. Along the way, she introduces us to an extraordinary array of characters willing to go to great lengths in the interests of research, including the French speleologist Michel Siffre, who spends two months in an ice cave in complete darkness.

Time Warped offers insight into how to manage our time more efficiently, speed time up and slow it down at will, plan for the future with more accuracy, and, ultimately, use the warping of time to our own advantage.

“In Time Warped, Claudia Hammond, a British radio journalist and psychology lecturer, delves into scores of experiments on how we track the seconds, hours, months and decades. At each duration she finds distortions and paradoxes, revealing the persistent ‘capriciousness, strangeness and mutability’ of time as we sense it.…Ms. Hammond has a steady touch in conveying the research, adding user-friendly charm even to exhaustive descriptions of the mechanics of boredom. A chapter on visualization is particularly intriguing, as she brings us inside the mind of a comedian who sees time as ‘a spiral going infinitely out ahead of me and slightly upward into the future’—a cross between a calendar and a Slinky.” - Jascha Hoffman, New York Times

“In Time Warped, Claudia Hammond… has a steady touch in conveying the research, adding user-friendly charm even to exhaustive descriptions of the mechanics of boredom. A chapter on visualization is particularly intriguing.” - Jascha Hoffman, New York Times

“…a fascinating foray into the idea that our experience of time is actively created by our own minds and how these sensations of what neuroscientists and psychologists call “mind time” are created.” - Maria Popova, BrainPickings

“This is an ideal read for those looking for science-based theories of time perception without the scientific jargon, and will appeal to readers with a curiosity about the role of time in their everyday lives. Hammond suggests time perception is altered among individuals with depression or ADHD; this insight also makes the book valuable for psychologists and counselors. Managers or professionals concerned with time management will also benefit. VERDICT Despite the common belief that time moves at a constant pace, Hammond demonstrates how life’s circumstances can make minutes seem an eternity and decades the blink of an eye.” - Library Journal

“This is an ideal read for those looking for science-based theories of time perception without the scientific jargon…. Despite the common belief that time moves at a constant pace, Hammond demonstrates how life’s circumstances can make minutes seem an eternity and decades the blink of an eye.” - Library Journal

“A well-researched meditation on how we see the future…. There’s one great question of time, one which of course this book cannot answer, but on which it gives a great deal of much-needed perspective: ‘How much do I have left?’ ” - Slate

“Hammond seamlessly blends interviews, anecdotes and some particularly wacky science experiments to show us how time works on us. Hammond has written a fascinating and at times mind-boggling book that will change the way you think about time.” - Financial Times

“Hammond weaves a beautifully constructed story out of the puzzles that preoccupy us about the way we experience time, and the cutting-edge science that tries to make sense of it. . . . You will find time racing by as you get absorbed in its pages.” - Mail on Sunday

“This lively introduction to the psychology of time perception is an intriguing take on the fluidity of reality.” - Publishers Weekly