title: How Can I Make time.sleep Shorter
body: <p>My programs supposed to play a game. It's the loading screen I'm having problems with. When I run it, <code>time.sleep</code> acts as if it's sleeping <code>0.1</code> seconds, instead of the much smaller numbers I input into it. Why is this? Is there a way I can make the delays shorter? Here's the code:</p>
  
  <pre><code>import os
  import random
  import time
  import sys
  
  def mywrite(line2,line1,t,s,x='small'):
      if x=='small':
          x=0.0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000001
      else:
          x=random.random()*t+s
      word=''
      for c in line1:
          if line1.index(c)&lt;len(line1)-1:
              print(line2)
              word=word+c
              print(word)
              time.sleep(x)
              os.system('cls')
          else:
              print(line2)
              word=word+c
              print(word,' \n')
              time.sleep(x)
  mywrite('__________________________________________________________\n',' %33s'%'Scrambled',0.005,0.1,'random')
  print('    Press "a" to play %30s'%'Press "s" to exit')
  print('__________________________________________________________')
  start=input()
  if start=='a':
      permission=1
  if start=='s':
      permission=0
  if permission==0:
      sys.exit()
  if permission==1:
      print("Choose Difficulty")
      print('Easy        -Press a')
      print('Hard        -Press b')
      print('Insane      -Press c')
      diff=input()
  y=0
  while permission==1:
      os.system('cls')
      mywrite('''
  
  
  
  
  
    _                       _   _                 
   (_)   ___     __ _    __| | | |  _ __     __ _ 
   | |  / _ \\   / _` |  / _` | | | | '_ \\   / _` |
   | | | (_) | | (_| | | (_| | | | | | | | | (_| |
   |_|  \\___/   \\__, |  \\__,_| |_| |_| |_|  \\__,_|
                |___/                                                       
      ''', 0.005, 0.001)
      time.sleep(2)
      os.system('cls')
      mywrite('''
    _                           _                 
   (_)           __ _          | |           __ _ 
   | |          / _` |         | |          / _` |
   | |         | (_| |         | |         | (_| |
   |_|          \__, |         |_|          \__,_|
                |___/                             
                            _                 
         ___             __| |      _ __  
        / _ \           / _` |     | '_ \ 
       | (_) |         | (_| |     | | | |
        \___/           \__,_|     |_| |_|
  
      ''', 0.005, 0.001)
      time.sleep(2)
      os.system('cls')
      mywrite('''
    _                           _                 
   | |           __ _          (_)           __ _ 
   | |          / _` |         | |          / _` |
   | |         | (_| |         | |         | (_| |
   |_|          \__,_|         |_|          \__, |
                                            |___/ 
                            _                 
         ___             __| |      _ __  
        / _ \           / _` |     | '_ \ 
       | (_) |         | (_| |     | | | |
        \___/           \__,_|     |_| |_|
  
      ''', 0.005, 0.001)
      time.sleep(2)
      os.system('cls')
      mywrite('''
  
  
  
  
  
    _                       _   _                 
   | |   ___     __ _    __| | (_)  _ __     __ _ 
   | |  / _ \   / _` |  / _` | | | | '_ \   / _` |
   | | | (_) | | (_| | | (_| | | | | | | | | (_| |
   |_|  \___/   \__,_|  \__,_| |_| |_| |_|  \__, |
                                            |___/ 
  
      ''', 0.005, 0.001)
      time.sleep(4)
      os.system('cls') 
      if y==2:
          break
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>If that's too long, here's the part that contains the problem:</p>
  
  <pre><code>import os
  import random
  import time
  import sys
  
  def mywrite(line2,line1,t,s,x='small'):
      if x=='small':
          x=0.0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000001
      else:
          x=random.random()*t+s
      word=''
      for c in line1:
          if line1.index(c)&lt;len(line1)-1:
              print(line2)
              word=word+c
              print(word)
              time.sleep(x)
              os.system('cls')
          else:
              print(line2)
              word=word+c
              print(word,' \n')
              time.sleep(x)
  while permission==1:
      os.system('cls')
      mywrite('''
  
  
  
  
  
    _                       _   _                 
   (_)   ___     __ _    __| | | |  _ __     __ _ 
   | |  / _ \\   / _` |  / _` | | | | '_ \\   / _` |
   | | | (_) | | (_| | | (_| | | | | | | | | (_| |
   |_|  \\___/   \\__, |  \\__,_| |_| |_| |_|  \\__,_|
                |___/                                                       
      ''', 0.005, 0.001)
      time.sleep(2)
      os.system('cls')
      mywrite('''
    _                           _                 
   (_)           __ _          | |           __ _ 
   | |          / _` |         | |          / _` |
   | |         | (_| |         | |         | (_| |
   |_|          \__, |         |_|          \__,_|
                |___/                             
                            _                 
         ___             __| |      _ __  
        / _ \           / _` |     | '_ \ 
       | (_) |         | (_| |     | | | |
        \___/           \__,_|     |_| |_|
  
      ''', 0.005, 0.001)
      time.sleep(2)
      os.system('cls')
      mywrite('''
    _                           _                 
   | |           __ _          (_)           __ _ 
   | |          / _` |         | |          / _` |
   | |         | (_| |         | |         | (_| |
   |_|          \__,_|         |_|          \__, |
                                            |___/ 
                            _                 
         ___             __| |      _ __  
        / _ \           / _` |     | '_ \ 
       | (_) |         | (_| |     | | | |
        \___/           \__,_|     |_| |_|
  
      ''', 0.005, 0.001)
      time.sleep(2)
      os.system('cls')
      mywrite('''
  
  
  
  
  
    _                       _   _                 
   | |   ___     __ _    __| | (_)  _ __     __ _ 
   | |  / _ \   / _` |  / _` | | | | '_ \   / _` |
   | | | (_) | | (_| | | (_| | | | | | | | | (_| |
   |_|  \___/   \__,_|  \__,_| |_| |_| |_|  \__, |
                                            |___/ 
  
      ''', 0.005, 0.001)
      time.sleep(4)
      os.system('cls') 
      if y==2:
          break
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>BTW I'm only a few days into python, so please keep the explanations simple. Thank you.</p>