This article is based on research into patients' perceptions of being in hospital. Time, ordinarily taken for granted, becomes a significant problem for people in hospital. Patients seek control over time that they do not seem to have during their stay in hospital. They try to keep track of time and find ways of passing it, while believing that precious personal time is lost to them. The insight gained into differing perceptions of time and how patients coped with these can be used to reduce some of the tensions and negative aspects of the way time is experienced in hospital.