diff --git a/.changelog/18595.txt b/.changelog/18595.txt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..19ce7cab2a87
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changelog/18595.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+```release-note:improvement
+ui: simplify presentation of task event times (10m2.230948s bceomes 10m2s etc.)
+```
diff --git a/ui/app/models/task-event.js b/ui/app/models/task-event.js
index 680850885430..56d879b8d46e 100644
--- a/ui/app/models/task-event.js
+++ b/ui/app/models/task-event.js
@@ -16,6 +16,27 @@ export default class TaskEvent extends Fragment {
 
   @attr('date') time;
   @attr('number') timeNanos;
+  @attr('string') displayMessage;
 
-  @attr('string') message;
+  get message() {
+    let message = simplifyTimeMessage(this.displayMessage);
+    return message;
+  }
+}
+
+function simplifyTimeMessage(message) {
+  return (
+    message?.replace(/(\d+h)?(\d+m)?(\d+\.\d+)s/g, (_, h, m, s) => {
+      h = h ? parseInt(h) : 0;
+      m = m ? parseInt(m) : 0;
+      s = Math.round(parseFloat(s));
+
+      m += Math.floor(s / 60);
+      s %= 60;
+      h += Math.floor(m / 60);
+      m %= 60;
+
+      return `${h ? h + 'h' : ''}${h || m ? m + 'm' : ''}${s}s`;
+    }) || message
+  );
 }
diff --git a/ui/mirage/factories/task-event.js b/ui/mirage/factories/task-event.js
index c9d2c84385e9..3e7fdfd0bfbc 100644
--- a/ui/mirage/factories/task-event.js
+++ b/ui/mirage/factories/task-event.js
@@ -17,5 +17,5 @@ export default Factory.extend({
   exitCode: () => null,
   time: () => faker.date.past(2 / 365, REF_TIME) * 1000000,
 
-  message: () => faker.lorem.sentence(),
+  displayMessage: () => faker.lorem.sentence(),
 });
diff --git a/ui/tests/acceptance/allocation-detail-test.js b/ui/tests/acceptance/allocation-detail-test.js
index 5cd4a576a705..95a8f5e1ba08 100644
--- a/ui/tests/acceptance/allocation-detail-test.js
+++ b/ui/tests/acceptance/allocation-detail-test.js
@@ -209,7 +209,7 @@ module('Acceptance | allocation detail', function (hooks) {
 
       assert.equal(taskRow.name, task.name, 'Name');
       assert.equal(taskRow.state, task.state, 'State');
-      assert.equal(taskRow.message, event.message, 'Event Message');
+      assert.equal(taskRow.message, event.displayMessage, 'Event Message');
       assert.equal(
         taskRow.time,
         moment(event.time / 1000000).format("MMM DD, 'YY HH:mm:ss ZZ"),
diff --git a/ui/tests/acceptance/job-status-panel-test.js b/ui/tests/acceptance/job-status-panel-test.js
index 92bc220f027f..c14fc5674a45 100644
--- a/ui/tests/acceptance/job-status-panel-test.js
+++ b/ui/tests/acceptance/job-status-panel-test.js
@@ -790,7 +790,7 @@ module('Acceptance | job status panel', function (hooks) {
 
       await fillIn(
         '[data-test-history-search] input',
-        serverEvents.models[0].message
+        serverEvents.models[0].displayMessage
       );
       assert.equal(
         findAll('.timeline-object').length,
diff --git a/ui/tests/acceptance/task-detail-test.js b/ui/tests/acceptance/task-detail-test.js
index dc73c21bd532..ff2c4c7a1429 100644
--- a/ui/tests/acceptance/task-detail-test.js
+++ b/ui/tests/acceptance/task-detail-test.js
@@ -223,7 +223,7 @@ module('Acceptance | task detail', function (hooks) {
       'Event timestamp'
     );
     assert.equal(recentEvent.type, event.type, 'Event type');
-    assert.equal(recentEvent.message, event.message, 'Event message');
+    assert.equal(recentEvent.message, event.displayMessage, 'Event message');
   });
 
   test('when the allocation is not found, the application errors', async function (assert) {
diff --git a/ui/tests/unit/models/task-test.js b/ui/tests/unit/models/task-test.js
index 19073335592d..20b432f3fb6c 100644
--- a/ui/tests/unit/models/task-test.js
+++ b/ui/tests/unit/models/task-test.js
@@ -85,4 +85,69 @@ module('Unit | Model | task', function (hooks) {
       );
     });
   });
+
+  // Test that message comes back with proper time formatting
+  test('displayMessage shows simplified time', function (assert) {
+    assert.expect(5);
+
+    const longTaskEvent = run(() =>
+      this.owner.lookup('service:store').createRecord('task-event', {
+        displayMessage: 'Task restarting in 1h2m3.456s',
+      })
+    );
+
+    assert.equal(
+      longTaskEvent.get('message'),
+      'Task restarting in 1h2m3s',
+      'hour-specific displayMessage is simplified'
+    );
+
+    const mediumTaskEvent = run(() =>
+      this.owner.lookup('service:store').createRecord('task-event', {
+        displayMessage: 'Task restarting in 1m2.345s',
+      })
+    );
+
+    assert.equal(
+      mediumTaskEvent.get('message'),
+      'Task restarting in 1m2s',
+      'minute-specific displayMessage is simplified'
+    );
+
+    const shortTaskEvent = run(() =>
+      this.owner.lookup('service:store').createRecord('task-event', {
+        displayMessage: 'Task restarting in 1.234s',
+      })
+    );
+
+    assert.equal(
+      shortTaskEvent.get('message'),
+      'Task restarting in 1s',
+      'second-specific displayMessage is simplified'
+    );
+
+    const roundedTaskEvent = run(() =>
+      this.owner.lookup('service:store').createRecord('task-event', {
+        displayMessage: 'I bet I can knock this out in about 1.999s',
+      })
+    );
+
+    assert.equal(
+      roundedTaskEvent.get('message'),
+      'I bet I can knock this out in about 2s',
+      'displayMessage is rounded'
+    );
+
+    const timelessTaskEvent = run(() =>
+      this.owner.lookup('service:store').createRecord('task-event', {
+        displayMessage: 'All 3000 tasks look great, no notes.',
+      })
+    );
+
+    assert.equal(
+      timelessTaskEvent.get('message'),
+      'All 3000 tasks look great, no notes.',
+      'displayMessage is unchanged'
+    );
+  });
 });