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Why Does Time Seem to Speed Up as We Age?

PsychologyNeuroscience

Quick Answer

Time feels faster as we age partly because each year becomes a smaller fraction of our total life, and partly because routine reduces the number of novel, memorable experiences the brain uses to gauge elapsed time.

The Full Story

The sensation that time accelerates with age is a well-documented psychological phenomenon with several proposed explanations. The proportional theory, proposed by Paul Janet in the 19th century, notes that each unit of time represents a shrinking proportion of your life: a year is 10% of a 10-year-old life but only about 2% of a 50-year-old life, so it feels relatively shorter. The novelty theory suggests that new experiences create richer, denser memories; childhood is full of firsts (first day of school, first bike ride), while adult routines blur together, giving the impression that time passed quickly because fewer distinct memories were formed. Neurologically, dopamine release (higher when we are young and encountering novelty) affects our internal clock, making time feel slower when we are more stimulated. This is why a monotonous week can feel like it flew by, while a holiday packed with new experiences feels long in memory.

Key Facts

1.The proportional theory suggests that from age 5 to 10, life subjectively feels as long as the entire period from age 20 to 80, because of the shrinking fraction each year represents.
2.Novel experiences create denser memories; this is why the first few days in a new place feel long, but time speeds up once the environment becomes familiar.
3.Studies show that during frightening or highly novel events, people perceive time as slowing down because the brain records memories at a higher density.

YouTube Angle

Suggested video title for this topic:

"Why Time Speeds Up as You Age — The Psychology of Perceived Time"