Time perception, the set of cognitive skills that govern how we process time (how much time has passed, for instance) and manage it, is already there in early childhood. As we grow, this sense of time sharpens, because the brain circuits dedicated to attention, working memory and emotion mature with it. Selective attention keeps us focused on the initial temporal cue and tracks its duration, while working memory lets us sense that information persists continuously over time.
Studying the neuropsychological mechanisms behind time perception helps explain why slowness, far from being an obstacle to productivity, can support attention, focus and learning. Multitasking, the ability to carry out several tasks at once, can work against both concentration and output.
Valentina Tobia, a developmental psychologist and professor of Developmental and Educational Psychology at Vita-Salute San Raffaele University (UniSR), studies these mechanisms. Her work shows direct implications for how we study, work and manage attention.
Mind Time and Clock Time: Two Different Clocks
The starting point is the distinction between mind time and clock time: the way our brain processes time, and the objective time a clock measures. These operate independently, because the brain builds its sense of time by integrating several circuits, some dedicated to cognitive processes such as attention, perception and memory, others to emotional processing.
«You're in the waiting room before an important medical exam, especially if you're on your own: ten minutes feel long and unpleasant, stress rises, your heart beats faster», says Tobia. Strike up a conversation with the person waiting next to you, though, and those same ten minutes seem to fly by. Both emotional and cognitive factors make the difference. Lower anxiety plays a role, and so does the quantity and quality of the stimuli the brain receives: alone, the brain has little to latch onto; in conversation, it's busy processing language, expressions and content.
Time Perception in Neurodivergent People
Individual differences add another layer to this picture. Researchers working on neurodevelopmental disorders, Tobia among them, have observed that some people have a structurally less accurate sense of time.
In ADHD, for example, waiting for your turn in class during an oral exam, or while new materials are handed out, can feel disproportionately long compared with the time that has actually passed on the clock.
One theory in the literature holds that these children's internal clock “ticks” faster than usual: it accumulates more temporal information per unit of real time, making intervals feel subjectively longer than they are. That's not the only explanation. Other studies point to a working-memory deficit that makes it hard to “keep track” of time passing, or to a genuine aversion to waiting that distorts the estimate. A 2022 meta-analysis in the Journal of Attention Disorders, covering 27 studies and more than 2,800 participants, systematically documented that children and adolescents with ADHD estimate durations less accurately than their neurotypical peers. The underlying mechanisms are still under study, but the phenomenon itself is well established.
Slowness and Productivity: Why Doing Less Often Means Achieving More
Mental time and clock time don't line up, and that has a consequence: the idea that working more slowly means being less productive needs revisiting. «Slowness and productivity shouldn't be seen as opposites», Tobia notes. Some mental processes require time, repetition and the ability to focus on one task at a time. Consolidated learning is a clear case, distinct from shallow, rote memorisation.
This is where multitasking, far from speeding things up, becomes an obstacle. Doing several things at once creates a sense of urgency that starts as an emotional response but quickly spills over into cognitive load. Stress rises, and mental resources get spent managing that spike in arousal instead of the task at hand. The result is only a seeming paradox: the harder you push to get through more, the less efficient the brain becomes at finishing any of it.
What Happens to the Brain When We Slow Down
If multitasking scatters cognitive resources, slowing down concentrates them. Doing one thing at a time lets us stay more present in what we're doing — a concept close to both mindfulness and metacognition, the ability to observe and understand our own mental processes as they happen.
Walking through a crowded city at rush hour versus walking through a wood, ideally alone or with few people around, illustrates the difference well. In the first case, a constant stream of stimuli pulls attention from one thing to the next, making it hard to stay anchored to the present moment. In the second, there's more room to reflect on what you're doing, and to take in the experience with fuller attention. This isn't only a question of personal style, since staying present is itself a skill. Context matters too: the environment around us can support or hinder that focus, and to some extent we can choose what surrounds us.
Metacognition is a resource in this sense too. Knowing how your own mind works, whether you need to slow down for certain tasks or actually perform better at speed, is the first step toward choosing effective strategies instead of enduring a pace that doesn't fit how you function.
How to Train the Brain to Slow Down
These principles translate easily into daily habits. Building in real breaks between commitments, even just ten minutes, is the first step. It's not a luxury: it gives the brain time to reset before the next task. The same goes for the moments set aside each day to slow down. A walk, some physical activity, or simply listening to music: doing any of these at least twice a day helps.
Multitasking needs limits: it puts a strain on the emotional system and draws cognitive resources away from the task at hand. Calendars and planners follow the same logic. They help when they free up mental energy that would otherwise go into remembering commitments, but they become a problem when every slot gets filled, leaving no room to breathe. Anyone looking for a more structured way to organise their day can explore time blocking, a technique that also works well for students, which means assigning fixed time slots to specific categories of tasks instead of working through an endless to-do list.
Slow learning follows the same logic. Metamemory, a specific form of metacognition tied to how we memorise, helps you understand how you function and choose study strategies that actually work. Some people need to repeat something several times to learn it. Others learn better reading calmly, in silence, without interference. Recognising what works for you, instead of sticking with a method that doesn't, can be the difference between frustrating study sessions and effective ones.
The thread connecting time perception, slowness and learning leads to a conclusion that isn't intuitive: the brain doesn't perform better under pressure. Knowing how your own sense of time works, and recognising when to slow down, is a cognitive skill before it's a lifestyle choice.
Bibliography
Zheng, Q., Wang, X., Chiu, K. Y., & Shum, K. K.-M. (2022). Time perception deficits in children and adolescents with ADHD: A meta-analysis. Journal of Attention Disorders, 26(2), 267–281.
Metcalfe, K. B., McFeaters, C. D., & Voyer, D. (2024). Time-perception deficits in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Developmental Neuropsychology, 49(1), 1–24.
Walg, M., Oepen, J., & Prior, H. (2017). The faster internal clock in ADHD is related to lower processing speed: WISC-IV profile analyses and time estimation tasks facilitate the distinction between real ADHD and pseudo-ADHD. Child Psychiatry & Human Development, 48(1), 38–46.
