For Reuters, Feilding Cage provides a series of interactive tidbits to demonstrate why time perception feels like a mess these days.
Various factors skew our perception different directions. On emotion:
A busy day usually goes by quickly, but for some the opposite is true in 2020. Frontline healthcare workers, for example, know they are at high risk of exposure to the coronavirus, and the resulting anxiety heightens their attentiveness and slows their perception of how quickly a day passes.
For others, however, time can fly during joyful moments, such as a video catch-up or dinner with friends.
There’s nothing on why it feels like time is moving backwards though.