I’m surprised nobody has mentioned Parallax Error yet.

Because when the time is say…9:22 and 5 seconds, the hand will clearly be on the 9:22 mark. But when it’s 9:22 and 45 seconds, it looks like it’s actually 9:23 when it isn’t yet.

The best way to avoid this error is to look exactly straight on at the watch or clock, which isn’t always possible for wall clocks. If you look from an angle, it is easier to mistake the time for 9:23 or 9:21 when it is really 9:22. This is a physical limitation of any measurement gauge or dial.

The other bit of information is the second hand, if you have one.

My mental algorithm goes something like this, it i were to step through it slowly:

1. General impression of the clock. The shape of the hour and minute hand together. I recognize the approximate time: a few minutes past 9:20. This is usually sufficient precision for my needs.
2. Minute hand fine position: somewhere between 9:22 and 9:23.
3. Second hand position: at 45 seconds. I now know the time is 9:22:45.

This gets faster with practice. Instead of having to work out the time, you’ll just know it, the more you do it.

Solution

Depends on the face. My watch has a section for each minute. So I’ll see if it’s 30 seconds or more past the hour. If it isn’t Then it’s the minute the hand is closest to. Else, it’s minus one. I set my watch to the second exactly, although it does drift over time.

Years and years of use of analog clocks helps.

I used to read analog clocks to the nearest five minutes. It’s just a quick glance and you (used to) rarely need to be that exact.

However my kids never got used to analog clocks despite an annoying number scattered throughout our house. It takes them too long to process what I mean by “quarter of”. They’re in college this year so it’s time to surrender in that battle. Now I’m the one who spends too much time reading analog clocks, trying to read them to nearest minute.

With digital clocks everywhere, gps exact trip times, scheduled meetings, society has gotten much more exact with time anyway. Being within five minutes is no longer good enough

Honestly, I can read a binary clock more quickly than I can an analog one.

But to actually answer, I usually try to get within 2 minutes, since the time may change while I’m trying to remember which hand is which.

Get a good clock - the ten minute intervals will be clearly marked as well as five with lil’ submarkers. You can train your pattern recognition that way

Source: am old

I grew up with analog clocks and can read them at a glance.

For the most part, I don’t really care precisely about minute. E.g. the analog clock in my kitchen is only used to tell me that it’s “roughly 2 minutes past 5 soon” and it’s enough for me to put the potatoes on.

If I need to know precisely whether it’s 16:03 vs 16:04, I use a digital clock. Though mostly because my analog clocks are not precisely synced at all times.

Back when analog was the norm, nobody cared about a minute here or there unless they had some specific profession. Like, the bus came “15:15 ish maybe 5 minutes early maybe 10 minutes late”. Everyone’s clock were off by at least 2 minutes anyway.

Today in the digital age, the bus schedule says “15:17”

The concept of numbers doesn’t come up. The way the hands are conveys the fraction of the hour or half day that has passed. There’s never a need to know the exact number, time is continuous and not discrete. The minute hand will move fractional minutes, too.

I think of analog time as kinda a pie chart telling me how much of the minute and hour that’s elapsed. So I don’t see 13:45, I see 75% past one o’clock.

Does that make sense?

If I’m bored, sure. Otherwise it’s to the nearest 5 minutes

If I need that level of precision, I’ll use a digital clock or set an alarm.

I can usually tell the time, at a glance, within 1-2 minutes which is precise enough for 99.999% of cases. Most IRL scheduling has a lower bound of 5-minute increments, so looking at an analog clock for the exact minute isn’t really necessary. e.g. 7:21 and 7:23 are effectively the same for all but the rarest of my purposes.

I usually round to 5 minutes. If I for whatever reason need the exact minute it will take a couple of second to see, depending on the design of the clock.

GenX here. I wanted to reassure you that it didn’t come naturally to me and i grew up when this was still taught in school. The real answer is practice. Read a clock several times a day for a few weeks. Take a moment to think about the mintue hand. Is it about 2/5 of the way to the next digit? 3/5? After a while, you won’t have to think. You will just recognize.

You’ll just get used to it over time. Think of it as spatial rather than numeric.

It’s actually easier on the brain in my opinion.