Talking to a couple of colleagues about accommodations, the topic of extra time came up, as it does many times. It seems to be a huge concern for many. So…
Why do we need more time?
Many people need more time to process information, including questions, and come up with the answers. They may need, as an autistic woman told me she does, to translate words heard or read into pictures, then process it as an image, the answer comes as an image, and then she has to translate that image into a worded answer. That takes longer than when you are thinking in words, right?
Similarly, a student recently told me English is their second language, and when they take a test they read the question in English, translate it into their native language, get the answer in their native language and then have to translate it to English. That takes additional time.
“Easy” questions in an exam do take mental space and energy. Can we minimize them, only leaving crucial ones?
How do you decide how long a task should take?
Many of us use our own experience to decide how long solving a problem should take, or writing an email, or cooking a meal. The problem with this is that we are thinking of us now, not when we started doing that task or learning how to do it.
Humans are famously bad at remembering the past. We reconstruct events and distort our memories based on other similar experiences. You may think that it took you “no time” to learn how to drive. But your brother, who taught you, may remember his exasperation because it took you “so long!” to get the hang of it.
In that same way, we may assume an undergraduate student should be able to solve this exam quickly and we set a limit that equates to 2 minutes per question on average. How are you making sure that the timing is right? Do you test that assumption? At a minimum I’d think you’d need to run an experiment checking how long it really takes. But…
Do you want them to respond under pressure? Because time limits are pressure and they take up some of our executive function, and the stress can decrease our mental capacity. Do you want to know what they know, or just what they know in a hurry?
But you need an airplane pilot to respond quickly in an emergency!
Yup. You also need car drivers to be able to react immediately when an animal or a person crosses the road or the car in front of them stops suddenly. That’s why by law learning to drive requires a person to first, remember all the rules and answer a test (which is untimed, btw). Then they have to learn over SIX months, driving under supervision at least 50 hours, 15 of which have to be driving at night. Then another 5-hour course and pass a practice test (NYS rules).
What would happen if every time they went to practice the person supervising was telling them they only have 30 minutes and they have to get everything right? With no feedback?
But what about a surgeon?
They practice A LOT. They don’t start by working with a person. They start using models and at first they may be SUPER slow. Their muscles have to train, too, and that’s only done with repetition and intentional attention to every detail. They observe surgeries. Then they assist with very little, safe areas (typically retracting, that is, holding back an area of the skin so the surgeon can use the scapel or see more clearly). Slowly and according to their performance, they are given more responsibilities. When they’re finally ready to open up a person, they are under the supervision of an experienced surgeon.
Slow, methodical practice is what creates great surgeons, great researchers, great drivers, great anything.
(This blog has good information and videos on surgeon training)
Any other minor skill takes time too.
Both the time spent doing the task, and total time until we are proficient. And I mean all minor tasks: doing the dishes, cleaning, baking, everything.
SPEED IS OVERRATED. SERIOUSLY.
(originally published as a LinkedIn Article on January 15, 2026)
Florencia Ardon 