How to make time go slower as we age?

According to research published in Psychology Today, our perception of time speeds up as we get older due to less information processing from fewer new experiences. While you can't physically stop the clock, you can change your brain's perception of it. Here is how to make time go slower as we age by embracing novelty and mindfulness to create a more vivid, memorable experience of life.

Quick Summary

Combat the feeling that time is accelerating by introducing more novelty and mindful presence into your life. By seeking new experiences, breaking routines, and paying closer attention to the present moment, you can create richer memories that make time feel more expansive in retrospect.

Key Points

• Embrace Novelty: Seek out new and challenging experiences, like learning a language or visiting a new place, to provide your brain with fresh information to process and remember.

• Practice Mindfulness: Be fully present and focused on the current moment, as studies show that mindful attention can stretch our perception of time and create more vivid memories.

• Break Routines: Even small changes, such as driving a different route or using your non-dominant hand for a task, can force your brain out of auto-pilot mode and make daily life feel less repetitive.

• Strengthen Social Bonds: Engaging with others, especially across different generations, creates memorable experiences and can counteract the loneliness that contributes to the feeling of time passing quickly.

• Focus on One Task: Avoid multitasking, which dilutes attention and weakens memory formation. Single-tasking allows for richer, more robust memory encoding, making events more memorable.

• Cultivate Wonder: Deliberately look at familiar things with fresh eyes. This practice can slow down your perception of the world and remind you of the incredible things you experience every day.

The Science Behind Why Time Seems to Speed Up

Before you can learn how to make time feel slower, it's crucial to understand why this phenomenon happens in the first place. This feeling isn't just in your head; it's a well-documented aspect of human perception linked to how our brains process information and form memories. As children, every day is a cascade of new sensory information and experiences. Our brains are constantly working overtime to encode this novelty into detailed memories. This rich tapestry of new memories makes each year feel long and significant.

However, as we age, life tends to settle into a routine. The same commute, the same weekly tasks, the same familiar places. This reduces the amount of new information our brains need to process. As routines become automatic, our brains become more efficient and use fewer resources to process these repetitive events. The result? Fewer memorable moments are laid down in our autobiographical memory, causing weeks, months, and years to blur together. Essentially, with less 'memory content,' time appears to collapse and accelerate.

Practical Ways to Inject Novelty and Slow Down Time

The most effective way to combat the 'speeding up' effect is to consciously introduce more new and stimulating experiences into your life. The brain thrives on novelty, and by providing it with new information to process, you can build more robust memories and expand your perception of time.

Embrace New Experiences

• Learn a new skill or language: Challenge your brain to form new neural pathways. Taking up an instrument, learning a new language, or even mastering a new style of cooking forces your brain to stay engaged and active.
• Explore new places: Travel, whether far away or to a new neighborhood park, breaks the routine. The unfamiliar sights, sounds, and smells will create distinct memories that make the time feel longer when you look back.
• Shake up your daily habits: Simple changes can have a big impact. Drive a different route to the store, rearrange furniture in a room, or use your non-dominant hand for small tasks. These small acts of novelty force your brain out of its auto-pilot mode.

Practice Mindful Presence

Mindfulness is the practice of being fully present and engaged in the current moment. For many adults, multitasking and a hurried pace of life mean we miss the small details. By paying closer attention, even ordinary moments can be transformed into more memorable events.

• Sensory awareness: When drinking your morning coffee, don't just gulp it down. Actively pay attention to its warmth, aroma, and taste. When walking outside, notice the details of the leaves, the feeling of the sun, and the sounds around you.
• Single-tasking: Dedicate your full attention to one activity at a time. If you're talking with a loved one, put your phone away. If you're eating a meal, just focus on the food. This creates more robust memories of the interaction or event, making it feel less like a blur.
• Mindfulness meditation: Regular practice can train your mind to focus and quiet the 'thought-chatter' that makes time feel empty. Even 10 minutes a day can strengthen your focus and ability to stay in the present.

Strengthen Social Connections

Loneliness and isolation are known to negatively impact health and can contribute to the feeling of time rushing by. Meaningful social interactions are often inherently novel and memorable, helping to stretch our perception of time.

• Connect with different age groups: Friendships across generations can provide fresh perspectives and new activities, combating the routine of only socializing with peers.
• Volunteer: Engaging in prosocial behaviors benefits others and provides new, fulfilling experiences for you. This can introduce you to new people and situations that create vivid memories.
• Reconnect with old friends: Reaching out to old friends can bring back a flood of forgotten memories from a time when life felt slower, helping to enrich your sense of your personal history.

Comparison: Slowing Down Time vs. Just Keeping Busy

It’s important to distinguish between filling your schedule with activities and truly slowing down your perception of time. The two approaches are not the same and yield different results.

Feature	Keeping Busy (Routine-based)	Intentionally Slowing Time
Focus	Efficiency, completing tasks, staying occupied.	Presence, rich experience, new information.
Memory Formation	Weak, repetitive memories that can blur together.	Strong, vivid memories due to novelty and focus.
Time Perception	Hours and days fly by, retrospectively feeling short.	Moments feel longer, and years feel more expansive in memory.
Mental State	Can lead to stress, feeling rushed, and less memorable moments.	Promotes relaxation, wonder, and a deeper connection to life.
Examples	Running errands, watching a familiar TV show, habitual work tasks.	Learning a new craft, mindful walking in nature, connecting with a new friend.

Conclusion: Reclaiming Your Sense of Time

While the objective passage of time is constant, your subjective perception of it is not. By actively cultivating novelty, mindfulness, and strong social connections, you can build a life rich in memorable moments and combat the disconcerting feeling that your years are slipping away. The goal isn’t to literally add more hours to your day but to add more life to your hours. By making small, deliberate changes, you can ensure that your later years feel expansive, vibrant, and full of presence, rather than a blur of routine. For more information on the psychology behind time perception, see this authoritative resource from the National Institutes of Health: Neural Networks for Time Perception and Working Memory.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does time seem to speed up as we age?

As we age, our lives become more routine. The constant flow of new experiences from childhood slows down, and our brains encode fewer memorable moments. With less 'memory content' to look back on, time seems to collapse and accelerate in retrospect.

Does physical exercise help to slow down time perception?

While not a direct method for slowing down time perception, exercise is a form of novelty. Introducing new physical activities or varying your workout routine provides new sensory input, which can help break up the monotony and create more distinct memories, contributing to the feeling of time slowing down.

How can I start practicing mindfulness to feel time pass slower?

You can start with simple, everyday activities. For example, dedicate a few minutes each day to mindful eating, focusing entirely on the flavors and textures of your food. You can also try a walking meditation, paying close attention to your body's movements and the world around you without distraction.

Can traveling really make time feel slower?

Yes, travel is a powerful way to slow down time perception. The unfamiliarity of a new location—new sights, sounds, and smells—forces your brain to process a massive amount of new information and form new memories. This makes the period of travel feel longer and more expansive in your memory.

Is it too late to start doing new things to slow down time?

It is never too late. The brain's ability to create new memories and neural pathways (neuroplasticity) continues throughout life. Introducing novelty at any age, whether through a new hobby, social activity, or small change in routine, can enrich your perception of time.

How do memory and time perception relate?

Our perception of time is heavily influenced by the memories we create. When we have many distinct, memorable events, time feels more stretched out. Conversely, when life becomes routine, fewer unique memories are formed, and our sense of time speeds up.

What is the 'novelty effect' and how can I use it?

The 'novelty effect' is the phenomenon where new and unusual experiences slow down our subjective perception of time. You can use it by purposefully seeking out new experiences, such as trying new foods, listening to different music, or meeting new people, to make life feel more expansive.