Time perception: why time feels like it flies and how to slow it

Okay, I’m about to say what might be the most overused sentence this month: I cannot believe it’s almost Christmas already! I don’t know about you, but it feels like the years are flying by faster than ever. And that got me thinking: why do we feel that way? And more importantly, can we slow our perception of time down?

Because it’s all about perception. Years have the same number of days, hours, and seconds, but in our minds, time felt different when we were younger. Do you remember how those long summer holidays seemed to last forever? And now, here we are, already gearing up for Christmas drinks.

Cindy Lustig, a professor at the University of Michigan, has an interesting take on this. She explains that when we are young, life is filled with novel experiences, learning new skills, meeting new people, and encountering different situations. These events are distinct and memorable, making time feel richer and more expansive.

As we age, our lives often become more structured and predictable. Our days tend to resemble one another, leading to less variation in what our brains store as unique memories. Our brain, as Lustig discovered, clusters these similar experiences together, compressing them into a single mental 'package.'

Without diversity in daily events, our brain saves resources by summarising repetitive days as a single memory trace. This can make weeks, months, or even years feel like they have passed in a blur.

So, even though an older person might feel that the hours in a single day pass slowly, the lack of distinct events means fewer 'markers' for memory. This results in the retrospective sensation that years flew by

An 8-year-old, in contrast, encounters frequent novelty, whether through school, play, or learning. These fresh experiences create a denser timeline in memory, stretching their perception of time.

Without enough fresh experiences to stand out, time feels compressed, it speeds up. This made me realise how much of life we actually spend on autopilot. Days start to blur, and before we know it, another year has vanished. But when we intentionally add novelty or curiosity to our routines, time begins to feel richer and more expansive.

Here’s the good news: we can trick our brains into slowing down time.

It’s not about adding more hours to the day (if only!), but about making the moments we have more memorable. Here are a few ideas:

• Break your routine. Shake things up with small changes. Take a new route to work, explore a different café, or try cooking a dish you’ve never made before. Even small tweaks can make your day feel fresh.

• Savour the moment. Slow down and notice what’s around you. It might be a meaningful conversation, a beautiful scene in nature, or the joy of trying something new. These moments become the anchors in your memory.

• Create milestones. Give your days a sense of purpose by planning small highlights. Celebrate a small win, set a goal to look forward to, or reflect on something unique that made the day stand out.

This insight is a reminder to actively seek novelty and variation at any age to enrich our sense of time and keep it from slipping away unnoticed.

Even small changes, trying new hobbies, visiting unfamiliar places, or meeting new people, can create distinctive markers in memory, slowing down the perception of time. So, here’s a little challenge for the week: find a way to break the routine and give your brain something new to remember. Let me know what you try, I’d love to hear about it!