It's not how much time you've got it's how much time you think you have

Not having enough time is the perennial complaint of the overstretched worker, student and schoolchild but a recent study has found that this might be more a case of perception than reality. Researchers at Case Western Reserve University in the U.S. studied 163 people as they took the Iowa Gambling Task. In the task participants pick cards from four decks in order to win money. Some of the decks are positive, others negative so by working out which deck is which the participants can maximise their rewards. The participants were divided into two groups. One group was told they had enough time to finish the task while the other group was told they did not. The two groups were then further divided with one half of each group actually receiving less time to complete the task. Regardless of the actual amount of time they were given the group who were told they had enough time did better on the task.

You can find out more about this research at

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090210162035.htm