Latest / The Burnout Podcast with Fexingo: Workplace Exhaustion, Recovery, and Sustainable Careers / How Career Burnout Changes Your Sense of Time
Transcript
- Lucas: You know that feeling when you look up from your desk and realize three hours have vanished? And somehow you've accomplished less than you thought? Luna: Oh, that's basically every Thursday afternoon for me. It's like the day just evaporated. Lucas: Right. And that's not just a quirky brain thing. There's actual science behind why burnout distorts your sense of time — and it's not just about being busy. It's about how your brain processes duration when it's chronically stressed. Luna: Okay, I need to hear this. Because I've definitely noticed that when I'm most burned out, weeks feel like they're flying by, but each individual day drags. Lucas: Yes, that contradiction is key. So there's a researcher named Marc Wittmann at the Institute for Frontier Areas of Psychology in Germany. He's studied time perception for decades. And one of his core findings is that our subjective sense of time is closely tied to how much attention we're paying to the passage of time itself. Luna: So when we're distracted or overwhelmed, we stop monitoring time, and then hours slip by? Lucas: Exactly. But there's a deeper layer here. Under chronic stress — which is basically burnout's biological signature — your brain pumps out cortisol and norepinephrine. Those chemicals put you in a heightened state of arousal. And when you're hyper-aroused, your internal clock speeds up. You're essentially in a mild fight or flight mode, and your brain is telling you that every second matters. Luna: So time actually feels faster because your brain thinks you're under threat? Lucas: Yes. And this is where it gets counterintuitive. In the moment, the day might feel like it's rushing. But when you look back at the week, you remember less. Because your brain wasn't encoding detailed memories — it was just reacting. So the week feels like a blur. That's why burned-out people often say 'where did the year go?' Luna: That's depressing. So burnout literally steals your sense of a life well-lived. Lucas: It does. And there's a 2021 study that quantifies this. Researchers at the University of California gave 200 workers a time-perception test — they had to estimate how long a 90-second interval lasted. The workers who scored high on burnout scales consistently overestimated the interval. They thought 90 seconds was closer to two minutes. Their internal clocks were running fast. Luna: So they actually feel like time is passing more slowly in the moment? That's the opposite of what you just said. Lucas: Right, but here's the nuance. In the moment, when you're bored or exhausted, every minute feels long. But because you're not forming strong memories — you're just enduring — the week compresses. So you get this weird hybrid: slow days, fast months. And that combination is especially corrosive, because you feel like you're suffering through each day, but your life is slipping away. Luna: That's a really uncomfortable thought. Let's talk about what can actually fix this. Because just knowing about it doesn't help. Lucas: Yeah. And the good news is, you can recalibrate your sense of time. The first step is what Wittmann calls 'temporal anchoring' — building small, regular routines that force your brain to register the passage of time. Luna: Like what? A daily walk at the same time? Lucas: Exactly that. Or a scheduled coffee break where you actually sit and do nothing for five minutes. The key is that these anchors have a clear start and end, and you're not multitasking. Because when your brain has a predictable temporal structure, it can relax its hyper-vigilance. And that slows down the internal clock. Luna: So it's not about being more productive. It's about creating moments where you're actually aware of time passing. Lucas: Yes. And there's a second strategy that's almost the opposite: deep work blocks. When you're fully absorbed in a challenging task, you lose track of time — but in a good way. That's called flow. And flow actually resets your time perception because your brain is fully engaged. So instead of the frantic, fractured attention of burnout, you get sustained focus. And that makes your day feel fuller, not faster. Luna: So the goal is to alternate between temporal anchors and flow? Like, structure your day with deliberate breaks and deliberate deep work? Lucas: Exactly. And there's a really interesting practical implication here. A lot of burnout advice focuses on reducing hours or adding rest. But sometimes the core problem isn't how many hours you work — it's that your perception of time is so distorted that even a six-hour day feels like a frantic blur. So fixing the time perception can actually make a full day feel manageable. Luna: That's a very different framing. And it makes me think about something else — the way we talk about 'time poverty' at work. It's almost like burnout creates a subjective time poverty, regardless of your actual schedule. Lucas: That's such a good point. And I think that's why simply taking a vacation doesn't always fix burnout. Your brain's time perception doesn't reset in a week. It takes longer. But if you start using these temporal anchors daily, you can retrain your brain to feel like it has more time. Luna: You know, talking about reclaiming time like this — it actually connects to something I've been thinking about. This show is completely listener-supported, no ads. And that's only possible because people who find value in it occasionally throw a few dollars our way. If this episode has made you think differently about your own time, and you want to help us keep making these conversations, we'd be grateful. It's at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. Lucas: Yeah, and it genuinely makes a difference. Every contribution lets us spend more time researching topics like this instead of chasing sponsors. So if that's something you can do, thank you. Now, let's get back to the practical side. I want to talk about one specific temporal anchor that I've been using and that's actually backed by research. Luna: Please, I'm taking notes. Lucas: So there's a practice called 'single-tasking breaks.' You set a timer for two minutes, and during those two minutes, you do absolutely one thing: drink your coffee, look out the window, or just breathe. The key is that you're not checking your phone or thinking about your to-do list. Wittmann's research shows that when you consciously attend to the present moment, your subjective time actually expands. Two minutes can feel like five. Luna: So it's almost like a mini meditation, but without the spiritual packaging. Lucas: Exactly. And I started doing this three weeks ago, two or three times a day. And I've noticed that my afternoons feel less like a blur. I remember more of what happened. And my internal clock doesn't feel as frantic. Luna: I'm going to try that. But let me push back a little — isn't this just another productivity hack? Like, 'do this one weird trick to get more done'? Lucas: I think the distinction is that this isn't about getting more done. It's about experiencing your day differently. The goal is not to squeeze more tasks into the same time. It's to feel like you have more time, even if your output stays the same. And that, to me, is actually the opposite of productivity culture. Luna: I like that. It's about quality of experience, not quantity of output. Lucas: Right. And the research bears this out. A 2023 study from the University of Groningen looked at workers who did three five-minute 'temporal anchoring' breaks per day for two weeks. They reported a 30 percent reduction in perceived time pressure, even though their actual workload didn't change. Their brains just felt less rushed. Luna: Thirty percent is huge. So basically, we can hack our own time perception with about 15 minutes of intentional pause per day. Lucas: That's the optimistic read. And I think it's real. But I also want to be honest — this isn't a magic bullet. If you're in a genuinely toxic work environment with impossible demands, no amount of temporal anchoring will fix that. But for the vast majority of us who are dealing with normal job stress that's just accumulated, this can genuinely shift how you experience your day. Luna: So we should think of it as a maintenance practice, not a cure. Lucas: Exactly. Like brushing your teeth for your brain's time perception. You do it daily, and it prevents decay. And the nice thing is, once you start, you realize that time isn't just something that happens to you. You have more agency over it than you think. Luna: That's actually a really empowering thought. I'm going to try the two-minute single-tasking breaks tomorrow. And I'll report back next episode. Lucas: Please do. I'm curious if you get the same effect. And for everyone listening, we'd love to hear your experiences too. You can find us on social media — we're at Fexingo on most platforms. But for now, I think that's a good place to leave it. Your sense of time is more flexible than you think. And that's actually good news. Luna: Yeah. It's a reminder that even when burnout makes everything feel fast and blurry, you can slow things down. Just by paying attention. Lucas: Exactly. That's the takeaway. Thanks for listening, and we'll talk to you next time.