Time feels like it speeds up because the brain records fewer new experiences as we age. Routines compress our sense of time. Add novelty, keep learning, and practice mindfulness to create richer memory markers and stretch your days. This explains why time seems to go faster as we age.
Why Childhood Feels So Long
Because almost everything is new, childhood packs dense memories, making years feel longer. That novelty gap clarifies why time seems to go faster as we age.
When we’re children, every year seems to stretch endlessly. A single summer can feel like half a lifetime. Psychologists explain this through the novelty effect — the brain encodes new experiences more densely than familiar ones. For a 10-year-old, a single year is 10% of their life; for a 40-year-old, it’s only 2.5%.
Children constantly encounter new people, environments, emotions, and discoveries. Each experience demands attention and creates lasting memory “bookmarks.” Because memory and time perception are linked, a memory-rich period feels long in retrospect. Adults, trapped in routine, have fewer such anchors, so time feels shorter. This contrast underlines why time seems to go faster as we age.
What Happens to Time Perception in Adults
As routines increase, attention and memory encoding drop, so similar days blur together. This is a core reason why time seems to go faster as we age.
As we age, our brains become more efficient — but that efficiency comes with a price. Familiarity means less attention, less encoding, and fewer distinct memories. The hippocampus and prefrontal cortex — key areas for time perception — are less stimulated when life becomes predictable.
Moreover, stress and multitasking distort our inner clock. When we’re constantly distracted, we process time in fragments. A busy day might feel endless while it happens but short when remembered — because fragmented memories compress into a single blur.
Routine accelerates this illusion. When every day feels similar, our brain stops marking time. A week, a month, even a year can blend together. That’s why many adults suddenly realize, “Wait, it’s already December?” And that is often why time seems to go faster as we age.
How the Brain Perceives the Passage of Time
Time perception is reconstructed from attention and memory. When novelty and dopamine fall, moments feel shorter, which is why time seems to go faster as we age.
Time perception isn’t measured by a single neural clock — it’s reconstructed from memory and attention. Dopamine, the hippocampus, and the prefrontal cortex play central roles. Dopamine spikes during novelty make moments feel longer and more vivid; with age, dopamine tone and plasticity change, and the sense of freshness fades.
Sleep also shapes how we encode experiences. Better sleep strengthens memory consolidation and improves temporal awareness — see how sleep quality affects memory after 40.
For an accessible overview of age-related attention changes, see Harvard Health’s explainer on concentration in aging (Harvard Health, 2025). Foundational mechanisms linking reward/dopamine and subjective time are discussed in recent neuroscience. All of this helps explain why time seems to go faster as we age.
Can We Slow Down the Feeling of Time Flying?
Yes. You can slow subjective time by adding novelty, practicing mindfulness, improving sleep, and breaking routine.
- Novelty & learning. Travel, try new hobbies, or take a different route to work to stimulate the brain.
- Mindfulness. Pay close attention to sensory details — the smell of coffee, the sound of rain — to strengthen temporal awareness.
- Break routines. Rearrange habits and reduce multitasking to prevent cognitive autopilot.
- Sleep hygiene. Keep regular bedtimes, manage light, and limit evening screen time to support memory consolidation.
Psychologists call this the density of experience: the richer your experiences, the more mental timestamps your brain stores — and the slower time seems to pass in retrospect. Empirical work shows that unique events can enhance episodic richness and shift perceived time in older adults (Scientific Reports, 2024). These strategies directly target why time seems to go faster as we age.
My Personal Experience: How I Slowed Down My Sense of Time
I noticed my years accelerating, and no matter what I changed, days slipped by. You look back — and half your life has passed.
At some point, I realized that constant work and routine made the days blend together. When every day looks the same, that’s exactly why time seems to go faster as we age. It’s not that the clock moves quicker — it’s that we stop truly noticing life.
So I experimented: device-free walks, paying attention to wind and sky, cooking new dishes, midweek meetups with friends. Slowly, something shifted.
Time didn’t actually slow down, but it felt slower — richer, fuller. I noticed details again: light on the walls, laughter at breakfast, the texture of ordinary moments. When you fill days with awareness and variety, hours stop vanishing. For lifestyle ideas, see how to enjoy life after 40. This helped counter why time seems to go faster as we age.
How Mindfulness Affects Time Perception
Mindfulness slows subjective time by stabilizing attention and enriching perception — a practical antidote to why time seems to go faster as we age.
Mindfulness — observing experience without judgment — can slow subjective time by stabilizing attention and enriching perception. Neuroimaging work suggests experienced meditators spend more time in brain states associated with sensory synchrony and less time in fragmented, effortful states (Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 2025).
You don’t need hours of practice. Even mindful eating, walking, or journaling can slow the mental tempo. It’s about re-engaging with the present moment and resisting the drift that makes time fly.
Why It’s Important to Notice Novelty Every Day
Daily novelty reactivates curiosity and memory, stretching your days. Without it, it’s easy to see why time seems to go faster as we age.
Novelty isn’t only for travelers. It’s available everywhere — noticing the shade of light on your street, learning a new word, or talking to someone new. Small discoveries stimulate dopamine and memory, reviving the freshness of youth.
Create micro-adventures: read a new genre, explore a local park, or cook a dish from another culture. The brain thrives on variety, and novelty stretches subjective time. For memory-friendly tips at any age, see ways to improve memory in older adults. These habits offset why time seems to go faster as we age.
FAQ
Can we really make time feel slower?
Yes. Novel experiences, learning, mindfulness, and quality sleep create more memory markers, making life feel fuller and longer. Why does time seem to speed up after 30?
Because routines dominate and novelty decreases, the brain encodes fewer distinct memories. Attention is also more fragmented by stress and multitasking. Are there scientific ways to stretch subjective time?
Mindfulness practice, regular learning, varied experiences, and better sleep increase temporal awareness and episodic richness. How does mindfulness slow time?
By anchoring attention in the present and reducing distraction, mindfulness deepens perception so moments feel extended.
Important: Persistent fatigue or other ongoing symptoms may signal medical issues such as thyroid imbalance, anemia, or vitamin B12 deficiency. If these strategies don’t help, consult your healthcare professional.
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External sources: Harvard Health (2025) · Scientific Reports (2024) · Frontiers in Human Neuroscience (2025) Written by Roman Kharchenko, founder of Life After 40. Combines personal insights with scientific evidence to help people 40+ live with more ease, energy, and joy. Reviewed for factual accuracy.