It has been nearly half a decade since the Covid-19 pandemic started. Schools and workplaces shut down; sickness spread worldwide; virtual work and school, TikTok trends, the 2020 Presidential Election, and quarantine have somehow been nearly half a decade. Yet it sometimes feels as if the pandemic was yesterday, but my memories from the pandemic do not feel as if they were yesterday.
Ever since the pandemic somewhat ended, my perception of time has felt off. I often cannot decide if something feels like a long or short time ago. The memories of quarantine feel blurry, and the timeline of my life post-quarantine feels blurry.
For me, it felt like life during quarantine was on repeat, but maybe with different ideas each day. There was no real change for what seemed like endless months. That repetition of waking up, logging on to virtual school, playing video games, and going on walks seemed to be my life for a while.
The HuffPost published an article by Jillian Wilson about COVID-19 and the effects it has had on people’s perception of time. The article talks about Cindy Lustig, a professor of psychology at the University of Michigan, and her findings on the pandemic and people’s perception of time. Lusting discusses how the repetition of days feeling similar can cause our self-timeline to be off.
According to the article, “When your days feel the same, your brain lumps that time together, making it seem to pass more quickly, Lustig said. So, while the individual days of 2020 may have felt slow because of their sameness, the year overall zipped by.”
Quarantine for me did not end until February of 2021, so nearly a whole year since the world shut down in March 2020. It is crazy to think that there was a whole year of practically being stuck inside of my house, yet the amount of memories I can remember feels like it lasted only three or four months. But that is what Cindy Lusting is getting at repeating routine can cause people’s days to feel the same, causing our brains to just make these “lumps” of time and memories.
Sage Journals discussed a study that National Gallup gathered revolving around Americans and their perception of time. Going off of the research national Gallup collected, Sage Journals talked about Americans and what part of their perception of time felt off.
Sage Journals said, “Perceptions that time is moving too quickly or too slowly show an inverse relationship, as expected. Feeling rushed and that days or weeks are blending together also show relationships with both of these perceptions over a 3-month recall period.”
Paul Froese, a professor of sociology at Baylor University, discussed the effects Covid-19 has had on people’s perception of time with the Texas Standard. Froese spoke about why he feels the perception of time might be off in many people.
Froese said, “It all depends on to what extent does a society get back to a routine that feels normal and feels like you can you know what to expect from day to day. And I think just anecdotally – we all would say this – is that the pandemic is still kind of with us. We feel these kind of lingering effects. And clearly, future research will kind of spell this out in more detail.”
I feel the pandemic is still with me in certain ways. Mentally one of the biggest struggles is forgetting that I am nearing the age of 18 and slowly approaching young adulthood. I am not saying this because I feel I am immature, but I remember the COVID-19 lockdown starting in March of 2020, and my birthday was a week into the lockdown on March 20th, 2020.
As weird as the birthday that year was, I was turning 13 which typically marks becoming a teenager. I remember thinking then how much time I have from now until I am 18 and become an adult. But just like that it’s senior year of high school and I am nearing the age of 18. As I nearing young adulthood I often seem to forget how long ago the start of the pandemic was.
Sometimes it feels like I am still my 13-year-old self, confused but confident that I have so much time until I become an adult. Yet here I am writing this piece four months before I turn 18. It is crazy how time flies, especially when you go through many of your teenage years in a pandemic.
Lauren • Mar 6, 2025 at 1:27 pm
Time moves differently depending on circumstances because the rate of time depends on your frame of reference. For example, our perception of time comes down to how much we actually emerge in the change that surrounds us and our everyday life. In emergencies such as car crashes it takes three seconds for an accident to happen on the road. Plus, on average it takes ten to fifteen minutes for an ambulance to come in a time of need or during an emergency. However, it might take longer if the 911 operator decides the call is not life threatening and can possibly wait.
james • Mar 6, 2025 at 1:16 pm
I also share this perception on time as of recent years, and I think another factor could just be getting older in general. This mixed with the repetitive nature of life during quarantine has made it all feel like a blur in my memory. Days became warped together and the passage of time seemed so rapid, like a year was over in an instant. The more I reflect on it, the harder it becomes to distinguish between certain events. Thinking back on it, I seem to remember days and weeks feeling long, but after the whole thing ended it seemed like a blur. Too much Xbox I guess.
Cat • Mar 4, 2025 at 1:09 pm
The ideas expressed in this article are very similar to my own experience as I also near my eighteenth birthday and reflect on the pandemic and how it shaped me. To me, time can be impacted by the situations in which one is going through and our perception of time can be dependent on if those experiences are positive or negative. Typically, during positive situations, time seems to slip from beneath me. However, during negative situations, time seems to move painfully slow. It’s true what they say, time flies when you’re having fun. Specific to Covid-19, time felt to move especially slow while I was living in it, everyday feeling the same. Looking back, that period of time seems to have lasted for only a fleeting moment, similar to the concept presented by the author.
Noa • Mar 4, 2025 at 1:06 pm
I agree with the article and the idea that time has sort of been at a stand still since Covid. It’s crazy to think that it has been almost half a decade since quarantine and the time that was taken away that some would consider crucial time periods for our development as children. I found it interesting how psychology shows that our personal timeline has been affected by the repetitive nature of isolation and time was at a stand still.I never took into consideration that our perception of time has changed and our memory has been alteredThe consequences of the quarantine are upon us yet brushed aside.
Solomon • Mar 4, 2025 at 12:57 pm
I thought this was a really interesting article to read and I appreciate you sharing about your perception of time. I feel like time is often written about as this arbitrary topic and lots of writers explore it with all its complexity in philosophy which can be very interesting to read because it can sometimes create more and deeper meaning in time than just the physical reality of it. Time is this construct that is deeply embedded into how we function and engage as humans and society, it tells of when things happen, helps track what has happened, and is a fundamental part of how economic, political, and societal systems are set up. For me, I definitely find that time appears to move differently depending on the circumstances and experiences because I definitely can precisely identify points when I felt my perception of time felt different.
Harrison • Mar 4, 2025 at 12:54 pm
I personally do not fell the effects of covid still although I am only one grade bellow the author. However I do agree that depending on the circumstances time can feel really short or long. When reading time goes by extremely slow for me, but when I am watching tv time feels like it goes by fast. I think based on the stages of peoples lives the effect of covid varied. Some people see covid as a recent event but I see it as something in the far past.
Student • Mar 4, 2025 at 12:52 pm
I agree with this article’s perspective, as I have felt as though time has melted together since the pandemic. I found the concept of a repetitive routine feeling long in the moment but being remembered as having gone by quickly very interesting. I definitely think I experienced this during my time in quarantine. I know that a lot of people talk about how time became very fluid since 2020, so it’s also interesting that it’s such a common consciousness. Despite feeling like time has flown by since the pandemic, I think I’ve become a bit more aware of time in the past year. I’ve felt a shift in my relationship with the idea of growing up and going to college. I think I’ve become more accepting of it and less shocked by it.
Drew Shenkman • Mar 4, 2025 at 12:50 pm
This is very insightful, Mason. I think that many of us found ourselves just going through the motions of life, rather than enjoying each day separately. There is a fine line between having a routine and forgetting what you did that day. When everything is the same, it becomes hard to differentiate days from other days. I feel similar in that I will be turning 18 very soon, but I can remember still how the pandemic affected my Bar Mitzvah when I was 13. Although it is scary, it is a fact that time never slows down, and all we can do it enjoy every day to its fullest and not dwell on the past.
Student • Mar 2, 2025 at 1:45 pm
This is so relatable, I agree 100%. Since covid-19 happened my life has been zooming by. It was just March 2020, I was in 5th grade so excited to stay home for two weeks turns out im out for a whole year. 7th grade was a blink of an eye, as well as 8th grade. Freshman year was the quickest year of my life. Now im in 10th grade and it March, like how? Life is moving so fast. I remember 2020 but not every detail. That year was so odd and it felt like the world was slowly falling apart day by day. I always think about how im bouta be 16 in a couple of days and it honestly scares me how im here. Like 16, I was just 10 making tiktok’s in my room, hoping on zoom calls, seeing all of the news about covid-19 getting worse and covid vaccine coming in the works. I do think covid-19 has a huge role in our perception of time but it is actually insane to really look back on this year and realize it’s been 5 years.
Zhaoye Wang • Feb 28, 2025 at 2:06 pm
i totally agree. since covid-19, i feel like time flies. in my memories, last year is still 2021. maybe i find the secret of that: spend your time on your phone. usually, before i go to bed, i want to watch short videos for 10 minutes. first eye on it is 2 minutes, and the second eye on it is 30 minutes. according to this, i have a try to keep myself away from my phone. the time limit is 1 day. when i don’t watch on my phone, i feel every second is slow and wonderful. this phone-off day is pretty enrich for me.
N/A • Feb 28, 2025 at 2:05 pm
I definitely agree with this article, thinking back on it I can barely remember what I did during COVID. The days all seem the same like it was just one really long day, reminiscent of a dream. I do not think it left a lasting impact on my circadian rhythm, I can clearly remember times before and after COVID vividly. It was like yesterday when I was able to see all my friends’ faces again. I know I wasn’t the only one who hated being in the house all day, that was the worst part sitting every every day with nothing to do besides look at a screen 24/7.
Sylvie • Feb 28, 2025 at 2:03 pm
I agree with the thoughts in this article. Lockdown and the pandemic, now that I think back about it, it felt like a very short amount of time, when it was really much longer than I realized. I think that time does move differently in certain circumstances as well. I think that the saying “time flies when you’re having fun” does apply to many of my experiences I’ve had throughout my life. Something that I notice often, is when I am bored things do to tend to feel very slow. Then when I’m having fun it sometimes seems so quick. I also agree with thinking about your age and how many years you still have before another milestone. I think about how many years I will have before I turn a certain age as well, and I do feel that in the pandemic I may have lost a few years to experience things that now that I’ve already passed, I won’t get to in the same way.
christian • Feb 28, 2025 at 2:02 pm
I agree with this article because ever since 2020, I’ve felt like time has moved much faster, and it’s hard to believe years like 2016 and 2017 were almost 10 years ago. I think a big reason me and other people in my generation feel like this is because 2020 felt like time paused because everyone was at home and everything we did normally was stopped. The repetitive lifestyle of Zoom calls, video games, and minimal human interaction was the main reason for most of the people I know because it was just like an endless weekend with a very low amount of school time, which felt like a break from everything.
Adalyn • Feb 28, 2025 at 2:01 pm
4. I agree with this article a lot because I feel like I have so much time but then COVID-19 happened and now i’m almost a junior and I still feel like time is still flying by. I think when you do the same thing for so long there is not use in remembering what you did because you or that least your brain thinks that its going to do the same thing over and over and over again. I’m not sure if our perception of time will change back because of how long it lasted or seemed to least but its crazy to think that it was 5 years ago.
Neiko • Feb 28, 2025 at 2:00 pm
I totally agree with this article. Quarantine for me is such a blur. I always forget that I did online school at my old school and not just at AFS. I remember that, at the end of the year of online school, I was talking to my teacher, and she was crying because she missed me so much. It was so awkward, like a fever dream. I was also really weird in 2020, quarantine got me into a lot of weird interests. I’m low-key happy I came here because my weirdness in 2020 was on another level. I don’t know how I would’ve survived at my old school. All I remember from AFS quarantine was doing Nikki’s workouts in PE class… She made us turn on our cameras; it was so embarrassing. I always think about what my life would’ve been like if COVID didn’t happen or if I stayed at my old school instead of coming here, and I can’t imagine it; it overwhelms me too much. The butterfly effect with quarantine is so crazy. Also, right now, I can barely remember 2020-2023; it’s all blurred into one. I hated all of it, though.
Gio Damico • Feb 28, 2025 at 1:56 pm
When I was 11 and 12 years old during quarantine, all I remember doing was playing video games all day with my friends, without any worries or stress. Since then, I’ve noticed that time seems to fly by faster. I have so much going on in my life: school, sports every day, being more occupied on weekends, and having to think about my future as I get older. During quarantine, the world felt like it was on pause, and I wasn’t even aware of what was happening outside. Now that I’m busy, everything feels different and seems to move faster.
Leila • Feb 28, 2025 at 1:55 pm
I agree with this article saying that COVID messed up people’s sense of time. I say this because COVID messed up my sense of time going by and how I recall those years. For me, COVID started when I was in fifth grade. Even though it was a little over the middle of the year, it still felt like COVID started when middle school started for me, and for me, I think that the pandemic lasted until seventh grade. It probably technically ended earlier than that, but for me, I started thinking and acting like we were out of the pandemic in seventh grade. Because of COVID, I lump my whole middle school years up together, and when I look back at it, I just think of my whole middle school experience and time during COVID.
Jenny • Feb 28, 2025 at 9:45 am
I agree with the article. Although I believe in relativity, I agree the fact that there might be a difference between objective reality and subjective feelings. For me, time does go differently depending on different circumstances. For example, there was a time when I really like making phone calls with my friends after school. We just keep the call on and mind our own business, everything else was the same as normal except that we were on a phone call. The consequence was that time was literally flying and we didn’t even notice. I think Covid did not necessarily affect people’s perception of daily time, but there was definitely an impact on ones life—people literally lost 1-3 years in their life and didn’t;t even how much it was.
remy • Feb 28, 2025 at 9:43 am
I agree with this article because time does seem to fly by so fast. I cant believe I was in 5th grade when covid was just starting and they let us go from school saying we would only be at home online for a few days. Now im almost done my sophomore year of high school and those days sitting at home at my desk on zoom feel like yesterday. I dont know if it was just me but I hated those days and I hated not being able to come into school and to see my friends and the pandemic had seemed like it lasted forever. I also think that the pandemic changed peoples lives in so many different ways and everyones perception of time. I think for myself the pandemic had a big affect on my sense of the world and what was really going on around me and how fast things move and soon before I know it ill be in the last months of my senior year getting ready to graduate.
Henry Goldstein • Feb 28, 2025 at 9:33 am
4: I agree with this article because I think time is still flying by even after the pandemic. The pandemic permanently changed people’s perception of time and how long ago things were. Like many others during the height of the pandemic, I spent months on Zoom for school and going on bike rides and walks after dinner. As the article said, having multiple months where you do the same thing can make time feel squished and distorted, but I think time flies in general because we aren’t thinking that far into the future. Every day, we’re thinking about what time our classes end and when lunch is. Not what will happen 25 years from now. So, I think that if we don’t think about time itself, it goes by faster.
Amir • Feb 28, 2025 at 9:32 am
I agree with this article. Now that you say it when I think before COVID and the pandemic nothing comes to mind. I can barely remember how quarantine was. All I remember was we had to go virtual. Time does move differently and covid has something to do with it. I feel like time has been shorter when I start doing something. I can just be talking to my friends after school and the next thing you know it’s been 2 hours. This is a great topic and I like how this article makes you think of your memories during the pandemic. I wonder if more people remember what happened during the pandemic. Time has been getting longer and shorter depending on what we are doing. I think if you got covid before it becomes harder to remember what happened before because the feeling is too much for our minds to handle. All we can do is lay down and let it go away. Also at the time no one wanted to catch covid, maybe that’s another reason.
Jaylan • Feb 28, 2025 at 9:32 am
For me, the pandemic also had a major effect on my sense of time and events. Its crazy to think movies like Spider-Man: No Way Home and Avengers: End Game came out 4-6 years ago when it feels like its only been a year since I went to the movies with my dad to watch them. When I think about quarantine, I think the end of 5th grade and playing videos games all day but never about how long it really was compared to how it felt. The world felt like it was on a pause and that nothing happened over that time which messes with your brain.
Ezra • Feb 28, 2025 at 9:29 am
I agree with how time flies. When we went in quarantine I was 12 years old. It’s weird how life changes before you even realize it. One moment, I was just a kid, waking up late, playing games, and not thinking about anything serious. Back in 5th grade, high school felt so far away, like something I didn’t need to worry about for a long time. But now, I’m deep in it with assignments, exams, planning for the future. I remember thinking that growing up would take forever, and that I had all the time in the world but everything is moving so fast now.
Lucas • Feb 28, 2025 at 9:28 am
I feel the same way. Ever since covid, it has never felt like time was passing in a logical way. Even though things have returned back to semi-normal, I do not feel as if time is the way things were has truly returned to us. Time no longer feels as if it comes at a constant speed, but rather changing every few days. Days only a few weeks ago feel just as long ago as days that were many months ago. I think this can be attributed to how often our routines have to change in the modern day, with so much changing in and outside of school.