Many people notice that the older you get, the faster weeks, months, and even years seem to fly by. In childhood, a single day could feel like an eternity, but now an entire year can slip by almost unnoticed. This isn’t just a subjective feeling—scientists have long been studying why our perception of time changes with age and how we can influence this process.
Research shows it’s not that time actually speeds up, but rather it’s due to the way our brains work and the experiences we accumulate. Heart rate, the richness of our daily events, even habits—all of these affect how we experience the passage of life. Understanding these mechanisms not only explains the phenomenon but can also help us find ways to slow down our subjective experience of time.
Childhood and Adulthood
In our early years, every day is filled with discoveries. For a child, a year is a vast stretch full of new impressions, emotions, and events. The brain records every little detail, creating vivid memories. As we grow older, life becomes more predictable, and days start to resemble each other. Adults encounter genuinely new experiences less often, so the brain stops forming a multitude of ‘memory anchors.’
Psychologists note that it’s the richness of experiences and novelty that make time feel subjectively longer. When days are filled with routine, the brain conserves energy and skips over the details. As a result, the past seems shorter and years appear compressed. Hungarian researchers confirmed in 2023 that children perceive eventful periods as longer, while adults are more likely to quickly skim over empty stretches.
The brain and perception
As we age, neural connections become more complex and information processing slows down. Professor Adrian Bejan has proposed a hypothesis: the adult brain forms fewer mental “frames” per second than a child’s brain. It’s similar to a video with a low frame rate—events seem to happen faster because there are fewer details between them.
The fewer new experiences you have, the shorter the elapsed time seems. The brain ‘compresses’ memories, keeping only the most significant moments. This is why eventful experiences—travel, new acquaintances, unusual activities—make life feel longer. Not only the number of events matters, but also your level of engagement: when you are fully immersed, your brain records more details.
The heart and rhythm
Not only the brain, but the body also affects how we perceive time. Psychologist Adam Anderson from Cornell University discovered that the duration of heart cycles is directly linked to how we sense the length of sounds and pauses. A slow pulse stretches subjective time, while a rapid heartbeat compresses it.
This explains why, in moments of stress or excitement, time seems to slip away, while in calmness, it moves slower. Simple breathing exercises and focusing on your heartbeat can help bring your attention back to the present and slow your internal rhythm. Even a brief pause, when you close your eyes and listen to your breathing, can change your sense of time.
Slow-down practices
To restore a sense of fulfillment in life, psychologists recommend varying your daily routes, trying new flavors, engaging in creative activities or sports. Any novelty is a powerful stimulus for the brain, prompting it to notice more details. Even small changes to your routine can make your days more memorable.
Another approach is mindfulness. When you are fully present in the moment—aware of scents, sounds, sensations—time stops slipping away. Meditation practices, breathing exercises, and simply observing the world around you can help slow your inner clock. The key is not to try to control time, but to learn to be here and now.
