Actually it is very simple and tons easier to understand what time it is when you know what it means. Like from midnight to noon just add a 0 in front of the time. For example 8:00 am becomes 0800 and 7:56 am becomes 0756. And between 1:00 pm and and midnight add 12 to the time. For example 1:00 pm becomes 1300 and 6:49 pm becomes 1849. And between noon and 12:59 pm, it stays the same. Like 1234 is still 1234. It is a little confusing at first, but it gets much easier with practice.