Boredom, time going too slowly

Post Reply New Topic

Does anyone else find their time perception is skewed? Time seems to go more slowly for me than for other people, and more slowly than it used to go for me. I mean the minutes/hours. Weeks and years go fast.

Sometimes I have nothing to do so it makes sense that I'd be bored. But even when I'm busy or doing something fun, time still seems to drag, which doesn't make sense. It's like I'm too aware of time, that I'm the opposite of people who "lose" time by mentally blacking out.

It's a very unpleasant sensation. I'm not sure I'm describing it well. I have trouble concentrating on anything. I am always wishing time would hurry up, even though I hate feeling rushed or overly busy, because the perception that time is dragging by too slowly makes me feel bored even when I'm doing something. When I'm doing nothing, I go crazy with boredom. All the trivial things people do to pass time - watching tv, playing computer games, etc. - I can't get into. I can't concentrate well enough to focus on them. I can never lose myself in an activity, I'm always aware of myself and of time passing.

I realise this sounds a bit crazy. Is it related to having AS in any way? Does anyone have a similar perception of time or problem with boredom?

Sometimes I have to resort to counting to reassure myself that time is passing.

For me, time is passing extremely slow, whether I'm busy or not. When I was young(er,) everybody told me with age I would develop that feeling that time passes too quickly, but that hasn't happened yet. Furthermore, I don't have a sense for my own age.

I have this problem too, though I suffer from depression so that might make sense, for me anyway. I'm not sure if it is to do with AS...

Eden

Damn!
From your profile - you're about my age.

I want whatever drug your on!


I wish I could make time slow down.

Are you saying that you still feel like "christmas will never come" the way you did as a child?

As opposed to the way most adults feel- that christmas comes too frequently?

Its EXTREMELY hard for me to believe that time is just as slow for you as it is for you as a child.

One more question- if you dont mind?

Are you employed, or not?

Whatever you got- Id like to bottle it and sell it and make millons.

Everyone over 25 would buy some.

Time went normaly for me as a child, it was in my mid-teens when it started slowing down. The things I described in my post above evolved very gradually. For me it's an entirely negative sensation.

I guess an inability to focus on fun diversions would be unpleasant.

Aspies are supposed to be overly prone to becoming absorbed into special interests. So, far from being AS related, it sounds like what you have is quite atypical of aspies.

Is there a name for this syndrome? There outta be.

Are you able to focus on housework? Or job tasks?

Oh I get very obsessed about my "special interests". That's the thing: it's not just when I'm doing uninteresting things that time goes slowly, it's when I'm supposedly fun things too. I can focus on special interests without getting restive up to a point. I recognise how much I like something, but I'm still bored if I have to think about it too long.
Maybe it's something like ADHD? What does ADHD feel like?

Housework doesn't take much mental effort - I'm usually less bored if I'm active rather than sitting still too. At uni I could study only for about an hour at a time. So many people at uni do "all nighters" where they stay up literally all night to finish an essay or revise. I could never do that. I had to plan to revise far in advance because I could only do it in short bursts.

It sounds a little more like ADD or ADHD than aspergers.

Attention Deficit Disorder means -just that- I suppose.

You cant keep your attention on things.

But im not a medical person.

It sounds like you might be on to something...

When I'm more interested and engaged with the world (which stims do via their effects on dopamine, which "ups" salience and makes you want to do things), time seems to pass quicker (well assuming I haven't pushed the dose too far, to the point of anxiety) (go to the top right here and read "The pleasure seekers" (Okay, since this is my first post, and thus can't post links, go Google up this full sentence quote if you want, and read "The pleasure seekers" on a site called "wireheading": "The dopamine system is about motivation and seeking. It gives a generalised desire or urge, an eagerness to engage with the world.").

When I started looking into ADD a few years ago, I found out that it was a lot different from what I'd thought it was. Look up "Russell Barkley". Here's (can't link it, so go Google up "russell barkley great schools transcript" and click the first link to get to the page that links the transcript) a good read for starters, and there are a lot of good Barkley vids on the CADDAC website (make sure to both click the links at the bottom of the player titled "Parents", "Educators", and "Teens & Adults", and expand the white box at the top left of the player that gives descriptions of the vids), many excerpts of which are also posted on YouTube.

I've always theorized that I perceived time much more slowly than other people as I'm constantly mentally active, even during repetitious activities that would cause most people to 'zone out' or whatever they do. I worked at a warehouse the summer after my senior year in high school and, of course, everyone was bored during the long, laborious days but no one else seemed to react to it as poorly as I did...I darn near went crazy after those three months and even if I wasn't headed off to college, I would have quit. I just couldn't take being forced to do something for eight consecutive hours.

Sometimes I get bored in the way that Withdrawal describes. If I finish or get stalled on a project at work, and have nothing else to do, my brain moves so quickly that I cannot focus on ordinary things that waste time like surfing the net, watching web videos, or reading articles. In fact my thoughts move so quickly, it feels out of sync with how slowly time is passing. It feels like my brain is ripping itself to shreds. The only way I can get past it is to invent some new busy-work project that will occupy my attention for the rest of the workday. I have to do this fast though, or else I might panic...