Oct 1, 2026 · 5:49
Why Does Time Feel Faster as We Get Older?
Why does a childhood summer feel endless, while an adult year can seem to disappear? Your brain doesn't experience time like a clock. Robo waits for a download, loses himself in a hobby, lives a routine week and a week full of new things – and shows why "how fast time feels now" and "how long it seems looking back" are two different questions.
Age is only part of the picture: attention, routine, memory and time pressure can all play a part. At the end: a small experiment for next week (a suggestion, not a proven method).
0:55In under a minute
Why Do the Years Seem to Fly By?
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Sources & further reading (5)
- Wittmann & Lehnhoff (2005): Age effects in perception of time
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16512313/ - Droit-Volet & Wearden (2015): Experience Sampling Methodology reveals similarities in the experience of passage of time in young and elderly adults
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25701720/ - Avni-Babad & Ritov (2003): Routine and the perception of time
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/14640847/ - Janssen, Naka & Friedman (2013): Why does life appear to speed up as people get older?
https://researchnow.flinders.edu.au/en/publications/why-does-life-appear-to-speed-up-as-people-get-older/ - Meade et al. (2024): Unique events improve episodic richness, enhance mood, and alter the perception of time during isolation
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-80591-z