You’re staring at the clock. It’s exactly 3:17 PM. You need to know what time was it 43 minutes ago because your parking meter is about to expire, or maybe you're trying to figure out exactly when that "quick" 20-minute nap turned into a full-blown coma.
Math is hard. Brain fog is real.
When we subtract time, we aren't working with the base-10 system we use for money or distance. We're wrestling with the sexagesimal system—base 60—inherited from the ancient Sumerians. It’s why your brain glitches when you try to subtract 43 from 17. You can't just "carry the one" like you do with a grocery bill. You have to bridge the gap across the hour mark, and that is where most of us stumble.
The Quick Math: What Time Was It 43 Minutes Ago?
Let’s get the answer out of the way first. If you are looking at your watch right now, here is the shortcut. Take the current hour and go back one. Then, take the current minutes, add 60 to them, and subtract 43.
Wait. That sounds complicated.
Let's try a real-world example. If it is 2:15 PM right now, you can’t just do 15 minus 43. You go back to 1:00 PM. You have 15 minutes of "leeway" in the current hour. Since you need to go back 43 minutes total, you take the remaining 28 minutes ($43 - 15 = 28$) and subtract those from the previous hour ($60 - 28 = 32$).
The time was 1:32 PM.
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It feels clunky because our brains naturally want to work in decimals. We want 100 minutes in an hour. If we had 100-minute hours, calculating what time was it 43 minutes ago would be as simple as basic subtraction. But we don't. We live in a world governed by 60s, 24s, and 365s.
Why Our Internal Clocks Fail at Subtraction
Ever notice how time feels like it's stretching? Scientists call this "chronostasis." It's that weird sensation where the second hand on a clock seems to freeze for a split second when you first look at it. Our perception of time is incredibly subjective. Research from neurologists like David Eagleman suggests that our brains don't actually perceive time linearly. Instead, we "record" more information during novel or frightening experiences, making them feel longer.
When you're sitting in a boring meeting and ask yourself what time was it 43 minutes ago, it's usually because your internal clock has drifted. You feel like two hours have passed. In reality? It's been 43 minutes.
The mental load of "time math" is actually a specific cognitive task. It involves working memory and numerical processing. When you're tired, stressed, or hungry, your prefrontal cortex—the part of the brain responsible for this kind of logic—takes a backseat. This is why you can be a literal rocket scientist but still struggle to figure out when you should have taken the sourdough out of the oven.
The Sumerian Legacy
We really should blame the Babylonians. About 4,000 years ago, they decided that 60 was the "perfect" number because it’s divisible by almost everything: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 12, 15, 20, and 30. It makes fractions easy for building pyramids or dividing land. For calculating 43-minute intervals on a Tuesday afternoon while you're caffeinated and rushing? It's a nightmare.
Real-Life Scenarios: When 43 Minutes Matters
In the world of aviation, time isn't just a suggestion. Pilots use UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) or "Zulu" time to avoid the confusion of time zones. If a pilot is told they had a clearance window that expired 43 minutes ago, they don't guess. They use standardized tools.
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But for the rest of us, the stakes are different:
- Cooking and Food Safety: If you realize you left the chicken on the counter and it’s now 7:00 PM, knowing it was still in the fridge "43 minutes ago" (6:17 PM) means it’s likely still within a safe temperature zone.
- Fitness Tracking: High-intensity interval training (HIIT) often relies on specific "time-since" metrics. If your heart rate peaked 43 minutes ago, you're firmly in the recovery phase.
- Parking Enforcement: This is the big one. If the warden is standing by your car at 1:10 PM and your ticket expired 43 minutes ago, you're looking at a 12:27 PM expiration. That's a hefty fine in most cities.
The Mental "Rounding" Trap
Most people don't actually calculate 43 minutes. They round to 45. It’s a cognitive shortcut called "satisficing." We settle for a solution that is "good enough."
If someone asks "What time was it 43 minutes ago?" most people will look at the clock, go back 45 minutes, and add two. It's actually a smarter way to process information. By breaking the 43 down into a "quarter-hour" chunk (45 minutes) and a small adjustment (+2), you reduce the cognitive load on your brain.
Why 43 is a "Sticky" Number
In numerology or even just random pattern recognition, 43 is a prime number. It doesn't feel "clean." It doesn't fit into the neat 15, 30, or 45-minute blocks we use to schedule our lives. This "messiness" is actually why it catches our attention. If a doctor tells you to wait 43 minutes after taking a pill, you're more likely to remember that specific number than if they said "about 45 minutes." Specificity creates urgency.
Tools to Stop Guessing
Honestly, in 2026, you shouldn't be doing this in your head if accuracy is vital.
- Smart Assistants: "Hey Google, what time was it 43 minutes ago?" It's the most common use case for AI for a reason. It's fast.
- Military Time Converters: If you're working in the 24-hour format, the math actually gets a bit easier because you aren't resetting at 12. 13:17 minus 43 minutes is a straightforward jump to 12:34.
- Analog Watches: There is a reason professional divers and pilots still love analog faces. You can visually "see" the 43-minute arc. It’s a physical distance on the dial, which is much easier for our spatial brains to process than abstract digits.
The Impact of Time Zones and DST
We also have to consider the mess that is Daylight Saving Time. If you are asking what time was it 43 minutes ago at 2:15 AM on the night the clocks "fall back," the answer could technically be two different times. It could be 1:32 AM (new time) or 1:32 AM (old time).
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It’s these edge cases that make time calculation such a fascinating—and frustrating—human experience. We’ve built this rigid structure of seconds and minutes to try and organize the chaos of the universe, but our biological reality is much more fluid.
Actionable Steps for Better Time Management
Stop trying to be a human calculator. If you find yourself constantly losing track of these odd intervals, try these three things:
- The "Rule of 60": Always visualize the clock as a circle, not a number line. When you subtract 43, don't think of it as "minus 43." Think of it as "past the half-hour plus 13."
- Use a Countdown, Not a Clock: If you need to do something in 43 minutes, set a timer immediately. Don't tell yourself "I'll do it at 4:27." Your brain will forget the 27. It won't forget the beeping timer.
- Audit Your "Lost" Time: If you're wondering where the last 43 minutes went, check your phone’s screen time. Most of us "leak" time in small, odd increments—43 minutes is almost exactly the length of one episode of a standard TV drama without commercials.
Time is the only resource we can't buy more of. Whether you're calculating an expiration time or just curious about the passage of your afternoon, understanding the mechanics behind the "what time was it" question helps you stay in control of your day.
The next time you're stuck on the math, just remember: it's not you, it's the Sumerians. Go back an hour, add 17 minutes ($60 - 43 = 17$) to your current minute count, and you're golden.
Next Steps:
Check your current time and subtract 43 minutes using the "Go back an hour, add 17" method. Once you do it twice, it becomes a permanent mental shortcut you'll use for the rest of your life.