Psychologists say that suddenly getting back an hour you had set aside for plans changes how you perceive time.
News that plans have been canceled — like a work meeting — feels like a huge gift and unexpected freedom. The unexpected return of an hour to your schedule changes your psychological sense of how time passes. And that, in turn, affects what you fill that hour with.
“An hour saved by a canceled plan feels longer than 60 minutes, and that mismatch from expectations creates a unique sense of possibility,” explained Gabriela Tonietto, lead author of a study on time management at Rutgers University (US).
In earlier work, Tonietto examined the hidden costs of overplanning, the benefits of having nothing to do, and the constant feeling of running out of time.
In a new study, she and colleagues from Ohio State University (US), the University of Toronto (Canada), and Peking University (China) examined why canceled plans give people a sense of freedom. They also wanted to know why that changes people’s sense of time. The study’s findings were published on the University of Chicago Press website.
Why a canceled meeting feels like freedom — and why time stretches
The team recruited more than 2,300 participants from university campuses and volunteers who signed up on online platforms such as Prolific. The researchers ran seven surveys measuring psychological and behavioral responses to a time windfall.
In the first four surveys, respondents compared saved time — for example, a canceled meeting — to other periods of free time of the same length. Statistical analysis showed that an unexpectedly saved hour feels longer than an expected hour of free time.
Next, the researchers analyzed how people spent the suddenly available free time. In three surveys, participants reported their planned and actual behavior when they had extra free time. When given an extra hour, they often took on longer tasks.
For example, an office worker who suddenly had an unplanned free hour would start a 45-minute task instead of a 30-minute one.
Given unexpected free time in their schedule, the worker would walk to a café instead of quickly grabbing a cup of coffee in the break room. In other words, participants felt a buoyant sense of possibility to do more.
Last-minute meeting cancellations often led people to choose leisure over work.
Don’t expect your boss to start randomly canceling meetings because of the study. But, as Tonietto advised, next time a meeting is canceled, “take advantage of it and make the most of it.”
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