Why does worrying about time make days feel longer and shorter simultaneously?

You're experiencing what I'd call temporal fragmentation. When you're anxious about time—whether you're rushing or procrastinating—your attention splinters. Part of you is in the present moment, part is already in the feared future. This split consciousness creates a paradox: the day feels both endless (because you're exhausted by divided attention) and vanishingly short (because you can't account for where it went). Laozi spoke of wu wei—effortless action—not because effort is bad, but because divided effort exhausts the spirit. When you worry about time, you're not actually managing it; you're wrestling with a phantom. The anxiety itself becomes the distortion. What helps: Notice when you've split your attention. Not to judge it, but to recognize it. A simple practice—checking in three times a day asking "Am I here, or am I already in the next thing?"—can reveal the pattern without fighting it. When you see the distortion clearly, you often naturally return to single attention. The day doesn't lengthen or shrink then. It just is.