Stressed about running out of time? You’re certainly not alone. When we hear influencers talk about us all having the same 24 hours in a day, it’s just not helpful. Each person’s relationship to time is different and dependent on individual context, but many of us feel as though we never have enough of it to do what we want to do.

New research by Stylist, powered by our new insight agency Think Stylist, found that 87% of women are feeling the pressure of time to achieve everything they want in life. 

Sadly, it’s impossible to slow down time itself, but unpacking our time anxiety could go some way to reframing how we spend our time. Renate Meyer, psychologist and founder of The Elegant Warrior, says: “Time anxiety is the feeling that you never have enough time and you aren’t doing enough with the time you have on your hands.”

She explains that the more we focus on how limited our time is, the more limiting our time starts to feel. “The more you worry about time, the more time feels like something you need to worry about,” she adds, saying that this is what psychologists call ironic process-theory: where the conscious attempt to suppress certain thoughts makes them more likely to surface.

Meyer says even though we can’t slow down time itself, we can do things to create a lasting sense of time. “It all circles back to learning new things – introducing yourself to new things will make memories stand out and stretch out your sense of time.”

And so, here are five practical things, according to Meyer, you can do to give you the feeling of having more time:

Learning a new skill: “This could be anything from cooking something new to taking up a new hobby. If you’re consistently trying new skills, this engages your brain, which increases the substance of the time gone by and lengthens your sense of the past.”

Going on holiday to somewhere new: “When you’re off work, you aren’t constantly thinking of deadlines and your never-ending to-do list. These things often make us think that we don’t have enough time and once we start obsessing over not having time, we make our very fear happen. Our thoughts shape our reality, so try going somewhere new and completely logging off.”

Being spontaneous: “This can enhance our sensitivity to the passage of time.”

Meeting new people: “Meeting a new friend or experiencing something with someone you haven’t met before are great for feeling like our time is passing by slower. There’s some evidence that our perception of time as we are experiencing it is much slower when we are children, so doing anything that mirrors being a child to an extent could help.”

Remember your day as distinctly as possible: “Most days pass by so quickly that we never really take the time to process it all. Studies have shown that if you slow down and stay more in the moment, and look back on everything in depth later, you may find time lasting longer. Practising mindfulness can also be a way to properly slow down.”

This article is part of Generation Tick Tock, a series exploring our complex relationship with time. You can read the full series here.

Images: Getty