Small talk is always a bit painful, and post-lockdown, small talk is now even worse. But at some point during every ‘catch up’ on email, Zoom or IRL, we can guarantee that someone will say a version of ‘Can you believe it’s June?’/’Where has the time gone?’/’What even are hours any more?’
‘The days are long, but the years are short’ is the old adage thrown at new mums praying to get through baby sleep regressions, but this time-crazy state of affairs is the case for all of us right now. Some bits drag, others whizz by.
‘This is because we judge how much time has passed by how many new memories we made, and if you’re always at home, or in the same local park or at the supermarket, then you are making far fewer memories than usual,’ explains expert and author of Time Warped, Claudia Hammond. ‘So when you look back the time feels as though it’s gone quickly. The usual variety in life has gone, and that warps our perception of time.’
And it’s not just our personal diaries that are empty – the whole world has stopped. ‘We use events as markers in time to help us get a sense of how much time has passed so when those markers are removed it’s confusing,’ Claudia continues. ‘This year there’s no Glastonbury, no Wimbledon and possibly not even a summer holiday, which is going to make it harder in the future to work out what, exactly, happened when.’
There are, though, things you can do to fight time, she says. ‘We need to find ways of making the weeks stand out from each other. So rather than Zooming the same people every Saturday night, try to think of something a bit different to do. If the weather’s good, could you go for a long evening walk with a picnic at the end of it? And make sure you make a big deal of any special dates on the calendar, such as birthdays or anniversaries, to give you something to peg your memories to.’ Seeing as it’s only June – and no one really knows what day it is anyway – perhaps your ‘summer’ can still be saved. We can now meet, go outdoors and even shop. Perhaps it’s time to start filling that diary with something other than ‘Family ZoomQuiz’...
2020’S NEW MILESTONES
There have been some markers we’ve collectively encountered this spring...
- When you discovered Joe Wicks and Cosmic Kids Yoga and vowed to do it every day and really make a change in your life...
- Aaaand when you stopped doing Joe Wicks: bravo if you’re still managing to gee up your kids to do burpees instead of laughing as they watch you sweat, but most of us dropped that a while ago.
- When you thought Chris Whitty was amazing and bought something off Etsy with his face on.
- When you could not stop debating about Joe Exotic and Carol Baskin...
- ... until you discovered Connell’s chain.
- The first time you pretended to miss a Zoom call. Sometimes you cannot face pretending you’re in a bar by sipping your increasingly warm Prosecco and finding out what’s new with your friends. Because, well, absolutely nothing is, is it?
- The first time you vowed to only drink at weekends. How’s that working out for you?
- The first time you thought, ‘Actually, I don’t want any more banana bread.’
- Your first McDonald’s. Did you have to wait at a drive-thru for two hours? Yes. Was it worth it? Probably not.