Is It Just Me, or Is Time Picking Up Speed?
Spoiler: It’s not just me.
Another turning point, a fork stuck in the road
Time grabs you by the wrist, directs you where to go
So make the best of this test and don't ask why
It's not a question, but a lesson learned in time
[Chorus]
It's something unpredictable, but in the end is right
I hope you had the time of your life-Green Day
I had a long phone chat with my dad last Sunday. He’s 95 years old and still loves telling his life stories—though, at this point, I could recite them myself in my sleep. But honestly, I don’t mind. He delivers them with such genuine enthusiasm, like he’s premiering a one-man Broadway show every time. His joy in remembering makes me happy to listen, even if I’ve heard the same stories, um, hundreds of times. (And, texting my sisters during the calls helps!)
During our chat, we ran through some upcoming family events, and he suddenly paused:
“Can you believe it’s almost May? May 2025!”
Time, it seems, is flying—even for a man who spends much of his day sitting quietly, mostly alone. His vision and hearing are poor, so he can’t read or watch TV. My sisters visit a few times a week and take him on outings, and he talks to at least one of us daily, but his days are otherwise quiet. He listens to music and plays the harmonica—thank goodness he can still do that—but often says he’s bored. And yet, paradoxically, he keeps marveling at how fast the days go by.
Each morning, he marks a big X on the oversized calendar my sister bought him (extra large font, extra large boxes—function over fashion). But even with those visual reminders, he’s often surprised by how quickly another week, or month, has passed.
This made me wonder: Why does time seem to speed up the older we get—regardless of how full or empty our days feel?
Why Time Speeds Up as We Age
This is one of those strange truths of aging that nearly everyone experiences. When we’re kids, summer seems to last forever. A single school year felt like an eternity. But somewhere around middle age and beyond, time gets sneaky. You blink and it’s Friday again. You reorganize your spice rack during Spring cleaning, and suddenly it’s October.
So, what gives?
Here are some of the leading theories from psychology and neuroscience:
1. Proportional Time Theory
When you’re five, a year is 20% of your entire life—a massive chunk. But when you’re 50, a year is just 2%. So each passing year feels shorter relative to your life as a whole. Math: beautiful and cruel.
2. Routine vs. Novelty
Our brains love newness. When we’re young, everything is novel—first jobs, first heartbreaks, first taxes. But as we age, life often becomes more routine. The brain doesn’t encode sameness with the same vividness. Days blend together, and time feels like it’s vanishing in fast-forward.
3. The Brain's Internal Clock Changes
Research suggests our brain’s timekeeping mechanisms may slow down with age. Changes in dopamine levels, attention span, and memory all affect how we perceive the speed of time. In short: our brains might be running a different stopwatch than it used to.
4. Less Attention = Less Time Awareness
Whether we’re bored or overstimulated, not paying attention tends to shrink our sense of time. My dad’s long, quiet days may feel slow while he’s in them—but in hindsight, they vanish without leaving much of a trace.
Can We Slow Time Down?
While we can’t freeze time (yet), we can change how we experience it. Here are a few ways experts suggest we stretch time—or at least, make it feel more satisfying:
🌱 Seek Out Novelty
Try something new—a different walking route, a hobby you’re bad at (that's half the fun), or even a new genre of music or book. Novelty lights up the brain and slows the perception of time. I have a friend I walk with most mornings. We usually follow the path in the same direction. Every now and then, I suggest we go the opposite way. It sounds stupid, but it really works. It kind of wakes up the brain, and we have to concentrate instead of mindlessly walking and talking.
What’s the last new thing you tried? Did it stretch time for you?
🧘 Be Present (Yes, Really)
Mindfulness doesn’t have to mean hour-long meditations. Paying full attention to one moment—your coffee, a breeze, a laugh—can make time feel fuller. I am working on this one. My brain is usually thinking so much about upcoming events that I can miss out on the present moment.
📷 Create Memory Markers
Journaling, photos, and voice memos are all great ways to anchor your days. They help your brain "record" time, giving you more vivid memories to look back on. My Substack is my online journal…but open for the world to see. (Sometimes opening up is scary!)
💬 Connect With Others
Time spent with people—whether talking, walking, or just being together—is naturally more memorable. My dad may be bored, but his daily phone calls anchor his days and remind him he’s loved.
Do you have any rituals or people that help ground your days?
🎶 Listen to Music
This one's for my Dad. Music taps into emotion and memory like nothing else. A familiar tune can collapse decades into seconds and bring long-forgotten moments rushing back. (Late 70s rock…one note and I am back in high school.)
Time Is Flying—Now What?
My dad turns 96 this year. He’s sad, understandably, that he won’t be around to see his great-grandkids grow up. But even in that uncertainty, he’s still commenting on how fast the days go by.
Maybe that’s the strange, bittersweet magic of aging: time moves faster, but it also becomes more precious. Each day might be a little blurrier, but it’s still worth noticing. Still worth marking—whether with a big X on a calendar, a quiet phone call, or a small moment of wonder.
What About You?
Have you noticed time speeding up as you’ve gotten older?
What do you do to slow it down, even just a little?
And if you’re feeling bold: what’s one “new thing” you could try this week?
I’d love to hear your thoughts. Feel free to share in the comments, or forward this post to someone who’s also wondering where the time went.
Until next time—hopefully not too soon.
Much love!
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