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Time pressure brought about by work or other activities is a real problem in modern society. Humans are required to do things faster and faster. As revealed in both informal language and in ergonomics literature, time pressure is a factor in psychological stress. Paradoxically, despite the current challenge to reduce time pressure, its mechanisms and consequences are still insufficiently studied.

Factors to be taken into account in the analysis of the causes and consequences of time pressure, be it acute or chronic, are illustrated in two fields: the route and the work. Arguments are built from bibliographic data and from results obtained by the authors during surveys, experiments and activity analysis involving child pedestrians, car drivers and employees of call centres.

The subjective nature of time pressure is put forward. Strong links between organisational time constraints and cognitivo-emotional individual factors are …