The psychological phenomenon known as the “holiday paradox” refers to the anticipation and pressure for a perfect holiday that makes many feel like time passes more quickly.
Summer vacations, National Day, and the Lunar New Year often seem to go by in the blink of an eye. This can leave many feeling regretful and more fatigued when it’s time to return to school or work. According to experts, human perception of time makes holidays feel shorter compared to working days. This phenomenon is called the “holiday paradox.”
The term was coined by Professor Claudia Hammond, a psychology lecturer at the University of Sussex, UK, to describe the inconsistent feeling between two equal time periods. Before and during a holiday, people use a prospective vantage point to evaluate each day that passes. After the holiday, they switch to a retrospective vantage point. These two perspectives differ significantly in terms of time perception.
According to research published in Scientific American in 2016, the prospective vantage point tends to feel very fast, particularly with joyful memories that contrast with everyday life. Joshua Klapow, an associate professor of Public Health at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, notes that many people have a habit of “stuffing” numerous activities into their holidays. They “pack” social activities that normally take weeks or months into just a few days. These experiences cause each hour to fly by.
A person on vacation at the beach. (Photo: Freepik).
Research published in the journal Cognitive Science in 2012 referred to this perspective as the “time machine in the mind,” affecting how each person perceives the passage of time.
The second reason holidays seem to pass quickly is due to psychological pressure. According to Professor Klapow, months before holiday seasons, retailers intentionally promote and communicate themes related to these events, building anticipation among customers to stimulate demand. In the United States, this is especially common leading up to Christmas. Many brands count down for months, creating pressure that makes people feel the holidays go by swiftly.
Expectations surrounding holidays also contribute to the perception that time is fleeting.
“We often expect too much. We want to have fun, we want everything to go smoothly, different from everyday life. When we place such expectations on just a few specific days, they will pass very quickly,” Professor Klapow explains, adding that if you rush to have an amazing holiday experience, everything will unfold at a breakneck pace.
