How to Make Time Pass Faster

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This article was co-written by Sydney Axelrod. Sydney Axelrod is a life coach and owner of Sydney Axelrod LLC, a business that provides personal and professional development coaching services. Through one-on-one coaching, digital courses, and group workshops, Sydney helps clients discover their purpose, navigate life transitions, and set and accomplish goals. . Sydney has over 1000 hours of coaching and training and holds a bachelor’s degree in marketing and finance from Emory University.

There are 8 references cited in this article that you can see at the bottom of the page.

This article has been viewed 64,436 times.

Are you home alone and feeling bored, waiting for an event or simply waiting? Surely most of us have experienced moments that we wish would never end. However, besides that, life also has long days. The next time you want to escape boredom during a business meeting, sitting in class, waiting for someone, or while traveling long distances to a nondescript place, try the methods in this article to make time pass faster.

Table of Contents

Relax to forget time

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Take a walk. Going out and breathing fresh air will help you forget the time as well as relieve stress. Take some time to walk around your residential or corporate building. Even if you only have 10 minutes, going for a walk is a great way to pass the time. Not only is this good for your health, but it also makes you feel like the time is going by faster.

Try asking a colleague or friend to go for a walk with you to make it more fun. For example, while at work, you can take a break by going for a walk with your co-workers. You can bring a cup of coffee, tea or other drink when you go for a walk to enjoy the fresh air and interesting conversation. ^{[1] X Research Source}
You can also take a walk inside the building if you can’t get outside. Walk around the office or work area, or down the hallway. ^{[2] X Research Source}
If you can’t go out for a walk while at school or work, try doing exercises that don’t attract other people’s attention, such as stretching and contracting. You can do this at your desk, sitting in front of the TV, or right in your bedroom. If you have to sit on an airplane or train for long periods of time, do leg or arm stretches.
Only women can do Kegel exercises.

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Meditation . This may not make time go by at first, but as you get used to it, you can reach the “timeless” realm. The mind keeps track of time and meditation is a way to stop all thoughts in the mind.

You can find guided meditation videos on YouTube to help if you’ve never meditated before.
You can even meditate while exercising, such as jogging. ^{[3] X Research Source} Choose a mantra to focus on and repeat throughout the day.
If meditation doesn’t match the vividness of your mind, you can try daydreaming. Visualize yourself showing up at a place, a story, a conversation, or anything else that interests you.
You can also try to take deep breaths. Taking slow, deep breaths is a way to bring about a state of calm and balance and can make you happier with your current situation than you think. Try inhaling for 8 counts, holding the breath and exhaling for 8 counts. Repeat until this becomes natural and you can let your mind wander with the thoughts calmly.

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Take a quick nap . Taking a short nap may not seem like a fun thing to do, but it can help you forget the time and be more alert when you wake up. Every time you struggle through the afternoon at work, work a night shift or overtime, or try to fight sleepiness while driving, find a safe place to take a quick nap as it helps you stay alert. and have higher productivity. ^{[4] X Trusted Source PubMed Central Go to Source}

Take a quick 20-minute nap to recharge, or sleep longer to forget the time.

Bring joy to yourself

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Go out with friends. Spend a few hours chatting, laughing or doing anything with friends to pass the time. You’ll need company when you’re bored, so the more people, the merrier. However, if you can only hang out with one person, that’s okay, because it’s also more fun when no one is around.

If your friends around you don’t have time to spare, take this opportunity to get in touch with an old friend you’ve always wanted to talk to but haven’t had time to call.
Even if you only have 5 minutes to chat with a friend or colleague, it will help you forget the time and boredom. ^{[6] X Research Source}

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Listening to music. Whether you’re at home, at school or at work, music brings joy and makes you feel like the day goes by faster. Try listening to the music of the day to pass the time, or listen to a new or favorite song between classes or assignments. ^{[7] X Research Sources}

For example, if you are studying, you can listen to some upbeat electronic songs to forget the time.
Or, while you work, you can listen to music as a reward for completing each task on your to-do list.

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Watch your favorite old TV show or movie. If you’re at home and want to pass the time, pick up a TV show or watch an entire series! Here’s how to help you pass the time by having fun. ^{[8] X Research Sources}

Go to YouTube or Netflix and find your favorite movies from your childhood, such as Journey to the West , Kaleidoscope , Southern Lands , Little House on the Prairie , Ocean Girl , Adventures by Sinbad , Little Dragon , Hoan Chau – try to see if your emotions are still intact as before.
Or, you can watch a movie you missed when it hit theaters, like the latest superhero movie, or the award-winning movie all your friends are talking about.

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Play games on your phone. Most phones come with at least one free video game like Tetris or Pac-Man that can make you feel like time flies faster than you think. However, you should not do this while at school or work.

If you are at home and have a video game suite or have a computer game, this is a great opportunity to pass the time.

Make the most of your time

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Do something you enjoy. A great way to pass the time is to choose to do something that makes you feel good. If you’re at school or work, see what you can do to make yourself happier doing other things. If you’re at home, think about what you enjoy doing for fun and doing things that make you happy. ^{[9] X Research Source}

For example, if you can do some creative project at work or school, do it right away. If you’re at home, pick up a hobby or time-consuming chore like knitting, baking, playing the guitar, or playing video games.

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Read a book. By reading your favorite thick book, hours will go by in a flash! You can read the works of Nguyen Nhat Anh, history books about Hue citadel, or read books about a certain country. What you read will add to your knowledge base.

If you can’t sit still and read, you can listen to audiobooks. This is very helpful when you exercise for long periods of time or do other physical activities. ^{[10] X Research Source}

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Do homework. No one thought that doing algebra homework or reading a book about the eighth President of the United States – Martin Van Buren (also known by many as “Old Kinderhook”) could help you forget the time. In fact, you may not love what you do, but if you put in the work and when you look up at your watch, you will see how quickly time flies. If you can get into the habit of doing your homework every time you want to kill time, your academic performance will be outstanding!

You can study in groups and relax a bit with friends while completing assignments. However, you need to avoid relaxing too much lest you can’t get the job done.
If you don’t have homework, you can do the things on your to-do list for that day or for the whole week. Think about the things you want to get done and make a list to do now or later. ^{[11] X Research Source}

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Clean up your bedroom. First, get rid of all food packaging, cardboard boxes, miscellaneous items that you can’t donate to others, and anything that makes your room cluttered. Next up is tidying up the furniture, handling one item at a time until you have your bed, desk, drawers, dresser, and other things organized. If you only have an hour or two to spare, clean up some part of your room and be proud of your accomplishments.

To feel better, you can ask a sibling or a friend to help!
You can also donate old clothes that you no longer wear to charities. This is a way to make you feel proud of yourself for your nice gesture and effort in cleaning out your closet.
If you’ve been planning to clean up (like clearing out your closet or organizing your jewelry drawer) but keep putting it off, now’s the time to tackle it all. ^{[12] X Research Source}

Try new recipes. You can browse recipes online until you find a recipe that makes you feel good. Cook a new dish or bake a new cake and see the results. Cooking not only makes delicious food for you and others, but it also keeps you happily busy for a while.

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Learn a few sentences in a certain language. You can’t learn a language in a day, but you can learn to say “Hi, my name is…” and “How are you?” in just a few minutes. Pick the language you’ve always wanted to learn and learn in minutes or so. ^{[13] X Research Source}

Try putting a book that helps you learn a new sentence every day on your desk at work, at home, or in your backpack. Take 5 minutes a day to read silently and then read the sentence aloud. That way, you both have time to relax and have something to look forward to each day.
Try using an app like Google Translate to help you learn a new language.

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Reply to old emails. Do you have any unanswered emails? If yes, now is the time to open your computer and reply to emails from people who are waiting for your reply like professors, friends, business associates. You will feel more relieved to have this communication to do when there is nothing else better to do.

Make creative projects

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Fold origami paper. Focusing on the intricacies of the origami paper folding process will help you lose track of time. There are countless ways you can make origami paper folding and once you’re hooked on this art form, you can create an entire zoo or origami flower bouquet.

Try making a paper ball to play soccer.
Or, you can fold the origami frog with a friend and see whose frog jumps further.

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Draw . Draw a portrait of yourself, draw a caricature of someone near you, or design a cartoon character. If you don’t like the way you draw, you can close your eyes and draw something simple in your head without using pencils or pens. The results can be very interesting and beyond your expectations; Besides, you also have no pressure to create a masterpiece (but still surprise yourself).

You can also look in the mirror and draw a portrait of yourself.

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Download a free audio editing program to your computer. Edit someone else’s voice to sound like a chipmunk or a gorilla, or turn a singer’s voice into a child’s voice. You can also discover and try composing an interesting song to share with friends and post the finished product on Facebook.

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Try creating art from photo collages. Cut out beautiful photos from some old magazines. Next, you try to create an impromptu picture from a combination of letters, someone’s face, cute cats, promotional products or whatever. You can make a fake anonymous bulletin board to send to your sister, or create a sexy superhero character from many famous people’s body parts. Or, attach a celebrity’s face to a stout body.

When finished, hang your masterpiece or give it to a friend.

Advice

If you are looking forward to an event, be prepared for it. Preparing everything in advance will be very helpful and help you forget the time.
Do not waste time. Enjoy every moment because life is so short.
If you’re waiting for something to come, split the time. For example, instead of waiting for the start of your vacation for 4 months, you should wait for the end of every day, every week, every month, and then the day you’ve been waiting for comes!

Steps

Relax to forget time

Bring joy to yourself

Make the most of your time

Make creative projects

Advice

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