Why is it that time appears to speed up as we get older? Why are we surprised when we come across a memory, often these days on social media, and we think about, or worse still re-share that memory, and announce to a largely disinterested world: “How can that have been as long ago as (for example) last year?” Yet that’s exactly how it feels. How can it be?
I asked Mr Google and, to my surprise, there is a scientific answer. Steve Taylor Ph.D writes about it on the Psychology Today website:
“This is mainly because, as children, we have so many new experiences, and so process a massive amount of perceptual information. Children also have an unfiltered and intense perception of the world, which makes their surroundings appear more vivid. However, as we get older, we have progressively fewer new experiences. Equally importantly, our perception of the world becomes more automatic. We grow progressively desensitized to our surroundings. As a result, we absorb less information gradually, which means that time passes more quickly. Time is less stretched with information.”
I find the whole thing absolutely fascinating, not least because it rings true. I have always been a creature of habit, happy and content in my comfort zone. I loved to travel, but only if it was to a place I had been to many times before. The same Greek island (I have been to Corfu a ridiculous 25 times, often to exactly the same place), drinking in the same pubs, listening to the same music genres, reading the same types of books; on and on we go. It is no wonder time appears to be passing more quickly if my life is essentially a long rehash of everything that came before? Moreover, is there anything we can do to slow things down a little? Steve Taylor Ph.D says there is:
“However, there are certain things we can do to resist the process of time speeding up. The most obvious is to keep introducing newness into our lives – for example, by travelling to new places, learning new hobbies, and meeting new people.” He also says we should live more mindfully: “paying conscious attention to our day-to-day experiences of seeing, hearing, feeling, and so on.” I’ve done lots of stuff on mindfulness in therapy and I’d recommend it to anyone. But “introducing newness“. That definitely works.
My long-suffering partner worked this out by herself. Hers was the idea that we stop going to exactly the same places all the time, including overseas holidays, shorter breaks at home and just generally trying new experiences. Initially with some reluctance, I have done the same. If “newness” can slow down the passage of time, or at least appear to, it’s surely worth looking at?
At least I now know the reason why people say things like, “How can that have been as long ago as (for example) last year?” I know why. It’s because we are on a repeat cycle of the familiar and the safe (which is absolutely fine if it works for you, by the way).
Taylor comes up with an interesting conclusion, too: “The experience of time speeding up with age is common, it is not inevitable.” That’s good to know because I’d rather meet up with The Grim Reaper somewhat later than sooner and even if it’s only my perception of time that’s changing, that has to be A Good Thing, right?
