“Quarantime”…Weird perception of time during the lockdown…

As we began the drive to Benabbio while in Boveglio, Tuscany, Italy, in 2013.

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A weird phenomenon has befallen us as we spend more and more days in quarantine, another word for our status in the lockdown in Mumbai, India.
Now, some may say describing our situation as quarantine is faulty when we are in a state of lockdown, not quarantine.

The café and entrance to the only restaurant within a 30-minute mountain drive from Boveglio, Il Cavallino Bianco, was quaint and charming.

“Quarantine” is described in part in the Merriam-Webster dictionary as follows: “as a state of enforced isolation.” The common misconception of quarantine during COVID-19 is that one must be sick or potentially sick to be in quarantine. That’s us. See further descriptions here.

However, today’s story does not regarding the definition of the word quarantine. Instead, it’s about our perception of time itself while we’re in quarantine and lockdown.

Houses we encountered as we walked through the town.

In no way do we diminish the difficulty of being in lockdown as being more challenging than others throughout the world. But, our situation with the lack of opportunity to be outdoors, let alone meander in larger spaces, feels for us more like a quarantine of those infected with the disease than our intent, coupled with stringent lockdown rules, to remain virus-free.

From the basis of this scenario, we have observed a peculiar sense of time passing: the days are long, the weeks are fast. After doing some research, I discovered this peculiarity is not so unique after all. What’s the deal with this?

Mustard painted house across from the restaurant.

It’s prevalent enough to warrant a story in the popular publication, Psychology Today which we found here, written by Dr. Casper Addyman, Ph.D., a psychologist and writer for the fine publication. Below is a snippet of his article oddly posted only a few days ago, on June 20, 2020.

Based on his analysis, the word has been renamed regarding lockdown and quarantine during times of COVID-19 to “Quarantime” not “Quarantine,” as commonly used in today’s media.

Vivienne’s grocery store, across the street from the restaurant.

“Quarantime: Why the Days Drag and the Weeks Fly By 

Research on time and memory explains why the lockdown distorts our perceptions.

Strange lockdown time-dilation effect; days have become much longer, but weeks much shorter.
Any explanation for this?
@ImranKhan, 2:21 PM · May 14, 2020

Quarantime!

My longer answer as a time perception researcher is that the passage of time as it happens (days) will be slower because of the monotony of your environment. But the memory of the time elapsed (weeks) will be shorter because time is made of events and there were fewer of those.

@czzpr – 2:30 PM · May 14, 2020

Time is memory

What tells the time?

1. Despite forty years of looking for them, no one has found them.
2. A mathematical law called the Central Limit Theorem proves that human time perception is worse than any ticking clock would measure.
3. If we did have clocks, we’d probably have to start one for each event we ever wanted to keep track of.”

A sign in the town square describing the village’s history.

The balance of this story may be found here. There are two aspects mentioned above of our lives right now that attribute to this peculiar sense we possess day after day:
1. A lack of memorable events transpiring throughout the day, making the days drag on
2. When we look back over a passing week when we had so few memorable days, they all seem to blend into one fleeting passage of time, whether in weeks or months

The interior of the church was austere and dark.

Thus, the daily sensation of the slow passing of time, a week later, a month later, is all becoming somewhat inconsequential in our memory banks as a significant part of our lives.

As we reviewed our time in Marloth Park, when each day was an action-pack, days and weeks seemed to pass on a cohesive and consistent basis. As we review past posts, we can remember each day distinctly.

The organ was above this doorway on a balcony.

But, I assure you, the many months we’re spending in lockdown now will remain in our minds as one single experience with little to recall. Oh, we’ll remember the day the cyclone passed through, the walking in the corridors, the repeated room-service meals, and the endless hours we spent streaming shows to occupy our minds. 

The rest, which may prove to be six months long, will be a blur of one long and challenging period in our lives, in our travels, caught in a scenario we could never have anticipated.

The confessional.

May all of us, during these trying times of COVID-19, experience memorable days, weeks, and months that we’ll carry with us well into the future.

Photo from one year ago today, June 23, 2019:

At the Station House Museum in Clifden, Ireland two-wheel buggy was used over 100 years ago. For more photos, please click here.