Time is weird. We think of it as this rigid, ticking clock on the wall, but anyone who has ever stared at their phone wondering how long until 1 40 pm knows that minutes aren't actually created equal. If you are sitting in a boring meeting, ten minutes feels like a literal eternity. If you're rushing to finish a project before a hard deadline, those same ten minutes vanish into thin air.
Calculating the gap between right now and 1:40 PM sounds like a basic math problem. It is. But it’s also a mental game. Whether you are waiting for a lunch break, a school bell, or a flight, that specific timestamp often represents a pivot point in our day. It’s the tail end of the "early afternoon" and the beginning of that final stretch toward the evening.
Doing the Mental Math for 1:40 PM
Most people don't want to open a calculator app. You just want to know if you have enough time to grab a coffee or send that one last email. To figure out how long until 1 40 pm, you have to look at the current hour first.
If it is currently 12:15 PM, you don't just subtract. You bridge the gap. You have 45 minutes to get to 1:00 PM, and then another 40 minutes to reach your target. Total? 85 minutes, or an hour and twenty-five. If it’s already 1:10 PM, you’re in the home stretch—just 30 minutes left.
The struggle happens when we cross the noon threshold. The shift from AM to PM messes with our internal rhythm. If it’s 11:30 AM, you’re looking at two hours and ten minutes. Simple, right? Yet, in a distracted state, our brains often skip a beat. We forget that the "1:00" mark is actually the 13th hour of the day in military time (13:40), which is why some people find the 24-hour clock much easier for calculating durations. No more AM/PM confusion.
Why 1:40 PM is a Productivity Trap
There is a phenomenon in office culture called the "post-lunch dip." Biologically, our circadian rhythms naturally dip between 1:00 PM and 3:00 PM. This is why you’re likely checking the clock. Your core body temperature drops slightly, and your brain starts asking for a nap.
If you are constantly asking yourself how long until 1 40 pm, you might be experiencing what researchers call "Time Anxiety." This isn't just about being late. It’s the nagging feeling that you aren't using your time effectively enough. Dr. Alex Soojung-Kim Pang, author of Rest, suggests that we are actually less productive when we obsess over these micro-windows of time. Instead of working, we watch the clock.
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Think about it. If you have 20 minutes until 1:40 PM, do you start a new task? Most people don't. They "wait" for the next block to start. This is a form of productivity paralysis. We treat the next scheduled event like a barrier we can't cross until the clock strikes the right number.
The Science of the "Waiting Room" Effect
Ever notice how time slows down when you’re anticipating something?
Psychologists refer to this as the "Proportional Theory" of time perception. When you are focused on the passage of time, the brain processes more "bits" of information per second. You notice the hum of the air conditioner. You notice the person tapping their pen. Because you are hyper-aware, it feels like it’s taking forever to reach 1:40 PM.
Conversely, when you’re "in the zone"—what Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi called "Flow"—you stop checking the clock entirely. You might look up and realize it’s 2:15 PM and you missed 1:40 PM altogether.
- Boredom: Time expands.
- Novelty: Time slows down (think about how long the first day of a vacation feels).
- Routine: Time compresses.
If 1:40 PM is a daily milestone for you, like a shift change, your brain likely glosses over the minutes because it’s so routine. But on a day where you’re waiting for something big? Every second is a mountain.
Time Zones and the Global 1:40 PM
If you are coordinating a Zoom call or a gaming session, the question of how long until 1 40 pm depends entirely on where "here" is.
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The world is divided into 24 main time zones, but it gets messy. Some places, like parts of Australia or India, use half-hour offsets. If you’re in New York (EST) and it’s 1:40 PM, it’s only 10:40 AM in Los Angeles (PST). But if you’re talking to someone in London (GMT), they’re already well into their evening at 6:40 PM.
Daylight Saving Time (DST) adds another layer of chaos. Every year, millions of people lose or gain an hour, throwing off their internal sense of "how long until" anything. It’s honestly a bit of a miracle we manage to meet for lunch at all.
Making the Most of the Minutes Left
Stop watching the seconds. Seriously.
If you've realized there are exactly 18 minutes left until 1:40 PM, don't just scroll through social media. That’s "dead time." Instead, try a "micro-productivity" burst.
- Clear the Inbox: You can't reach Inbox Zero, but you can delete 10 newsletters.
- Hydrate: Most of us are walking around like human raisins. Drink a full glass of water.
- Stretch: Stand up. If you've been sitting since 9:00 AM, your lower back is screaming.
- Tidy: Spend five minutes clearing your desk. A clean space actually reduces cortisol.
What if the Clock is Wrong?
It sounds paranoid, but our digital clocks aren't always perfect. Most of our devices sync with NTP (Network Time Protocol) servers. These servers link back to atomic clocks, like the ones operated by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Colorado.
However, "drift" can happen. If your device hasn't hit a Wi-Fi signal in a while, it might be off by a few seconds or even a minute. If your 1:40 PM deadline is mission-critical—like a high-frequency stock trade or a competitive product drop—you should be checking a site like Time.is to see the exact offset of your internal clock.
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Actionable Steps for the Time-Obsessed
If you find yourself constantly calculating how long until 1 40 pm, it’s time to change how you interface with your day.
First, stop using a digital clock for a while. Switch to an analog face. Analog clocks provide a visual representation of time as a "slice of a pie." It’s much easier for the human brain to see a 20-minute wedge than to calculate the difference between 1:22 and 1:40.
Second, set a "soft" alarm. If you need to be ready by 1:40 PM, set an alarm for 1:30 PM. This gives you a ten-minute buffer to transition out of whatever you’re doing. It removes the need to constantly check the time because you know the phone will tell you when it’s "pre-time."
Finally, acknowledge the "Planning Fallacy." We almost always underestimate how long a task will take. If you think you have plenty of time until 1:40 PM to finish a report, you probably don't. Double your estimate. If it’s 1:20 PM and you think a task takes 10 minutes, assume it will take 20. You’ll find you’re much less stressed when the clock finally hits 1:40.
Move your focus away from the countdown and toward the current moment. The time will pass regardless of whether you're watching it or not. You might as well do something useful with the gap.