Why Time Feels Faster as We Grow Older: The Psychology and Science Behind the Illusion

Have you ever felt that a year in childhood seemed endless, but as an adult, months pass by in a blink? Many people experience this strange sensation: time appears to speed up as we grow older. But why does this happen? Psychologists, neuroscientists, and researchers have proposed several explanations—and together, they paint a fascinating picture of how the brain perceives time.

1. The Newness Factor: Why Childhood Feels Longer

One of the strongest explanations comes from psychology.

When we are children, almost everything is new—our first day of school, learning to ride a bike, meeting new friends, exploring unfamiliar places. According to research by William James (1890) and later supported by modern cognitive psychologists, novel experiences are processed more deeply by the brain, creating richer and more detailed memories.

This intense processing stretches our subjective sense of time.

A study published in the Journal of Psychological Science (Block, 1990) found that adults and children perceive the same duration differently based on how many new stimuli they encounter. Childhood feels longer because it is filled with learning, exploration, and emotionally vivid moments.

2. Routine and Memory Compression in Adulthood

As we get older, everyday life becomes more predictable. Jobs, routines, commutes, chores—all of these become familiar and no longer require full attention.

The brain, being efficient, stops recording repetitive information with the same richness. With fewer new memories being formed, time feels shorter.

Neuroscientist David Eagleman (2009) explains this through memory compression: when less novelty is present, the brain stores fewer mental “timestamps,” making long periods seem to pass quickly in hindsight.

This is why a year at a stable job may feel shockingly short, while a childhood summer vacation—filled with new experiences—felt like an entire era.

3. The Proportional Theory: Each Year Shrinks

Another simple yet powerful explanation is the proportion theory.

For a five-year-old, one year is 20% of their entire life.

For a fifty-year-old, one year is only 2%.

As Jean Piaget’s developmental research suggests, humans understand time relative to lived experience.

Each passing year becomes a smaller fraction of our lifetime, so it feels shorter.

This proportional shrinking creates the illusion that time accelerates with age.

4. Biological Changes: A Slower Internal Clock

Beyond psychology, biology also plays a role.

Researchers at Duke University (Vaughan & Ulrich, 2018) found that the brain’s internal clock—based on metabolic and neural processing speed—slows down as we age.

Key changes include:

• Slower neuron firing rates
• Reduced dopamine levels (a neurotransmitter tied to time perception)
• Declining metabolic speed
• Slower sensory processing

When internal processing slows, external time feels faster by comparison.

This helps explain why weeks, months, and even years seem to rush by more quickly in adulthood.

5. How to Slow Down Your Perception of Time

While we cannot stop aging, we can influence how fast time feels.

Psychologists suggest that engaging in new, meaningful, or challenging activities can stretch subjective time again. Research in the Journal of Behavioral Science (2014) shows that novelty and emotional engagement expand our memory density, making time feel richer and slower.

You can slow the rush of time by:

• Trying new hobbies
• Traveling to unfamiliar places
• Learning new skills
• Meeting new people
• Changing routines
• Practicing mindfulness

Each new experience adds detail to your mental timeline—much like in childhood.

6. The Takeaway

If you ever feel like the months are flying by, remember this:

Time doesn’t speed up—our perception of it changes.

Through novelty, learning, and meaningful experiences, we can gently slow down our sense of time passing.

Life feels faster when it becomes predictable, and it feels slower when it becomes interesting.

So the key to stretching time may be simple: keep exploring, keep learning, and keep life full of new moments.

Sources (Integrated into the Article)

• William James (1890). Principles of Psychology.
• Block, R. A. (1990). Psychological Time and Memory. Journal of Psychological Science.
• Eagleman, D. (2009). Brain Time: The Temporal Dimension of Consciousness.
• Piaget, J. The Child's Conception of Time.
• Vaughan, C., & Ulrich, B. (2018). Internal Clock and Aging. Duke University Research.
• Journal of Behavioral Science (2014). Novelty and Time Perception Study.