Time passing way too fast

I recently saw a story on how being bored is actually good for the brain! Gives it a chance to reboot. Lol Seriously!
https://hbr.org/2025/08/you-need-to-be-bored-heres-why

@celia16 Brooks is an opinion writer at the Times that I have respect for but why this piece where he is telling us that to have time to find meaning we need to get rid of the constant itch to look at our phones? Is not backwards -- that to find meaning , which is the Most important part of our lives, one need to carve out time first and foremost?

Yes we as a society -- especially the younger ones -- we spend too much time time on phones. But the reason for this is that our lives are so lacking of anything more interesting than the possibility of Anything on the phone. In other words, our lives are Already devoid of what we Want to do with our lives. It is This life-condition that makes us prey to seeking fleeting escape from the uninteresting lives we are living.

The solution to stay out of our phones is therefore Not to keep off the phones but to Make our lives More Interesting WITHOUT phones. And that requires making use of our innate qualities such as letting our curiosity and playfulness be our guiding aids to steer our lives.
Be open to the life first with curiosity, Socially engaging friendships, playful pursuits, and wonder and need for phone-twitch will die on its own. what do u say?

@sisyphus “What do u say?” Humans have always been motivated by seeking challenges, Westward Ho! As you say, what is offered on the phone can be interesting, and I think provide the challenges lacking in everyday life. Challenges of trying/sharing new things, finding things, and mastering the social media game, to name a few.
What does it take, though, to set aside an interesting pursuit for another that must be developed?
Actually, I think we’re about to find out. We’re headed towards having more time on our hands as AI takes over job tasks. Probably shorter work day. With less discretionary income, the focus will shift away from accumulating things (I hope). We will need to turn to the humanistic pursuits to fill time, and find happiness.
The change, no doubt, will be a struggle on all levels.
As for the speed of passing time? Time seems to leap forward when changes are happening.

@sisyphus
Could not agree with you more. I think one stays on a computer or cell phone because it is EASY.

Also because online time delays having to do anything physical or productive or new; complete projects, chore lists; to do lists aka "work" which takes energy.

I think phone addiction is real and caused by A) the need for social connection, B) a strong nosiness for knowing what is going on, and C) Avoidance of physical energy expenditure (work).

First I believe the feeling of "time passing fast" is a function of if we are "happy" and looking forward to something in life.

OR

Second, I believe if one is strongly attached to something in life - a beloved spouse, or strong emotional attachment to others or things - aging and our life time slip past, may feel like time is moving fast: toward a possible "too fast" end (death).

I'm 73 now and I feel like my health has changed drastically for the worst since I turned 70. My latest setback was a recent diagnosis of PMR which has really affected my life. I have a few things that keep me motivated though. My mom lived to 101 and if not for a serious injury to her hip from a fall and the subsequent stroke, she may have lived longer...I'm married to someone 25 years younger than me and we have a 6 year old daughter... and I have a good healthcare team.

@slarson14 Any decent psychologist will tell you that motivation is the basis of all behaviours, including doing nothing. Or, the wrong things.

True story: when my just-passed dad was a boy of 13, his parents decided to join the neighbourhood and purchase/lease a crank-telephone...the large wall-mounted box. His parents made a few calls, mostly to let others know they were 'on line.' One day, my dad wanted to call a friend, but he was intimidated by the large structure and the oddness of speaking into it. He turned to his father and asked his dad to help him to make the call for him. My grandfather, without even lowering his newspaper, replied, 'Son, when you want to make that call badly enough, you'll make it yourself.' Truer words were never spoken. They speak to what can bring ourselves to do even when it is not clear, convenient, or common.

It seems that time matters most when we have little to do, and it may pass slowly or quickly.

When I am busy at work on my many interests, time disappears and I am full with sound or color or observing life...kids, birds, pets, neighbors, wife, even myself...there's a lot to pay attention to.

History is amazing. How many people have lived, leaving various clues about their lives, their joys, their motives?
It's more interesting than murder mystery programs!

And time disappears when you're fascinated!

@mir123 Time is not an absolute. I don't mean the Einstein time which slows at the speed of light.
I mean the time system we created for commercial and social convenience: "I'll meet you at 2pm" instead of "I'll be there when the sun is in the notch on the mountain."
Since "time" is in our heads-subjective- we shift it around depending on the circumstances. Two weeks vacation is too short. An hour getting your teeth cleaned is too long.
So, we don't have to torture ourselves with the idea of "time passing us by" like some kind of express train leaving us at station. Just realize it's our own mind, which hopefully we can control, that's making things "faster and slower. " You can play that game if you want to at your own risk.
Whoops! Time's up!

@shmerdloff
In Sunday in the Park with George, the characters in the painting don't like it. IT'S HOT UP HERE.
And they are stuck there FOREVER.