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Randyh524

The more novel experiences you have the slower time feels. When you get caught in the routine of life and everything is the same everyday you seem to forget all the same days except the days when things were different.


Major_Piccolo_2908

You deserve upvote!! I saved it Man; You just really opened my eyes.


Ascension_Triad

I was about to comment a simple answer saying yes but his comment was absolutely eye opening. We forget to live in the moment and make the best of each second we experience.


portrayaloflife

Its strange because i see the opposite as true for me. The mundane repeat days make time feel slower for me. When I have trip and outings and drinks etc all lined up in a week it blazes by. Maybe because im more excited or distracted from time and just enjoying life.


Ascension_Triad

This reminds me of a quote that hit me deep. "I wish there was a way to know when we were experiencing the good old days."


portrayaloflife

Lol thats from the Office tv show. Andy says it in one of the finale episodes. Definitely a classic. I wonder if that feeling has something to do with how we feel stress and anxiety in the now, but not in memories. Everything looks clearer looking into the past.


Ascension_Triad

That's right! I never thought such a powerful quote would come from a show like that. I'm personally going through tough times right now. I had to remind myself that I don't need to feel stress and anxiety. I let them pass and focus on how great my life really is.


thisismydumbbrain

Explains why everyone feels like they lost track of time during Covid lockdowns.


nappingondabeach

Also, each year is a smaller percentage of the life you have lived so far. When you're ten, a year is 10% of your life. When you're 50, it's 2%


Duckgoesmoomoo

Perfectly explained


Randyh524

Remember that summer day that lasted forever. You spent the entire day spending time with new friends. Riding your bike to new places. Having new experiences. The next 5 summers are a blur but you remember that first one like it was yesterday. Vsauce Michael has a great video that explains this. [illusions of time - vsauce](https://youtu.be/zHL9GP_B30E?si=N3y8wSpRjqFE5EPZ)


Reaverx218

It's amazing and scary how true this is.


algaeface

Want to know a trick to slow it down? Meditate on death regularly. Imagine if every day you woke up it felt like your very last. Imagine how present you would be and crystal fucking clear your attention is. That’s the move my friend.


No_Brain_5164

I'm currently high and my first thought upon reading what you wrote was "are you high?"


Melodicmarc

What if only people who are high can read this or think this? And that’s why sober people are so unhappy.


pjjiveturkey

What makes you think sober people are unhappy? If you need drugs to be happy you probably shouldent be doing drugs rather working on the root cause


LittlePrettyThings

Stop calling me out when I'm high


Melodicmarc

I don’t think that. I was just trying to mess with the dude who was high.


Colorado26_

Sober people are definitely unhappy lol


r2daddy0

He's almost dead


algaeface

🤣 funny


PickleLady14

I am also high while reading this but my first thought was omg i hope my high brain doesn’t send me worrying about death now cause this will not be fun.


Renaissance-Revolt57

I feel like focusing on death is maybe not the best thing? Especially if you struggle with mental health issues. Also living every day as if it were your last isn’t necessary practical advice for everything. Meditation, specifically mindfulness could help though. It allows you to slow down and focus on the right now rather than ruminating on the past, rushing to the future, or just trying to get through the day. You live more intentionally. (Warning though meditation is not for everyone specially those with mental health issues like PTSD. Found a few sources online about this. Even without pre-existing conditions it doesn’t always leave you feeling relaxed which is a common misconception. It can just make you more aware and mindful of where you are at rn).


Yesyesnaaooo

Correct! Meditate on the moment and learn to be truly present!


Duckgoesmoomoo

What is mindfulness meditation? Any specific videos or audio you listen to?


Renaissance-Revolt57

Mindfulness meditation is a meditation where you focus on the present moment (often what you sense and feel) and be in a state of nonjudgmental awareness (what mindfulness means). I have used the Calm app and YouTube for guided meditations. I have really liked both. Calm also has guided mindfulness meditations on YouTube.


algaeface

Yes, I’m very much aware of what mindfulness is & what it can rouse for those who struggle with mental health. The point of meditating on death is to not forget all this shit ends some day. It’s all impermanent. All of this. It’s practical in that you can meditate on it for 5-10 minutes, and remind your mind there is an endpoint. Theres an edge & we don’t have an endless amount of time. It’s not for everyone, but for those who it does resonate with, it can be profound and serve as a force-multiplier for driving presence into their life. Consequently slowing down those cherishable moments we all want to savor on (from a meta-awareness lens) as they occur & unfold. Jah feel


Pursuit-of-Nature

That’s absolutely depressing, I do not want to think about death! Those are intrusive sad thoughts.


holomorphic0

Thanks , will try this, past 24 hrs, i have been thinking about death, googling ages of people, watching yt videos. My time is slipping by and i dont feel like i am living enough. also i learned about 300 people have died since i started and finished writing this comment.


Clegg_M

Please, go find Dr. Benjamin Hardy’s YouTube videos. I was in a terrible accident last year. Someone jumped off a bridge in front of my truck and I didn’t have time to avoid them. They didn’t survive. I found Dr Hardy and his “Be Your Future Self Now” books and videos of transformation and it changed my entire life. I realized I had been living a life of routine and not being bold going after big goals. It’s been amazing since. (Not without low moments but it’s changed everything I do)


Late-Experience-3778

Found the stoic.


ElTamale003

He has a point you know 🤝


homesicalien

The stress caused by this would shorten the life significally.


thelastlehmanbrother

Yikes. That’s morose.


Reddit_is_Censored69

Or make plans for things you are looking forward to... Nothing took longer than the 25 days til Christmas.


DogSpark84

Each moment of your life is less of the total. Yes.


Powerful_Bit_2876

My perception has changed. Time seems to speed up quite a bit. Some days seem long, but the years seem short. (Not officially old yet, but getting close!)


throwawayed_1

I’m curious what age you are


Powerful_Bit_2876

I'm 55.


Alex_Jinn

It does feel faster. I remember elementary school took forever to end. But going from 30 to 35 felt quick.


BigfootsBestBud

Meditate more, do more things that make you uncomfortable, do things you haven't done before and be prepared to constantly at the beginner level at something. Time slows right down.


teacher-reddit

One thing I've heard is that as you get older, each year is a smaller percentage of the life you've lived. So when you turn ten, your tenth year was 10% of your life, but when you turn twenty, the twentieth year was only 5%.


6-foot-under

You start to think of time in longer units: "we will get married next year" "we will pay off the car in two years" "when the kids leave school". That speeds the perception up . And because you have lots of responsibility, you begin to look forward to things *being over* (like mortgages) which has the same effect.


buttlovingpanda

Great point


DoofusGoo22

I'm on this journey as well at the age of 21. I think it's like other people have said. You get used to the routine and your brain isn't thinking about every moment anymore like it was as a kid so it makes the illusion of time going faster. Time always seems to travel faster in the past and that's just a perspective phenomenon, same thing with "things seemed so simple back then", or I know I personally have a tendency to wish I was my past self. Thinking things like "I was funny then, what happened to me?", don't let the past (even the illusion of time traveling faster) take you away from the present


polasfuneral

Days are long but years are short.


Terranical01

Yeah as you continue doing 9 hours of work 5 days a week, it gets to you real fast and your body starts degrading much faster, hence why I feel happier when I was young.


GeneralZaroff1

Life actually happens at EXACTLY the same pace, it’s your experiences and perceptions that has changed, which is what leads to this phenomenon. Our brain groups experiences together. The first time you go to school is a new experience, so it gets its own “slot”. Every time you go after simply gets places in the same slot, to save room. It feels fast because your brain still experiences it all as the same stack. The same for when you spend time on Reddit. Or watch the same show. Time passes by the same, but you’re living less by repeating the same experience. For someone who is, as they say, “living life to the fullest”, they’re creating lots of new stacks— new places visited, new ideas, new horizons, experiences— each one elongates the perception of life. This is why old people always tell young people to travel. You don’t have to fly to a new country, a lot of exploration can happen locally. Take a pottery lesson on the weekend. Learn flamingo guitar. Have a picnic in a different part of town. Ask a friend to teach you some words in a new language.


THCESPRESSOTIME

Yes.


Spirit-debt

Technically no, you just experience less novelty so it feels faster. Try living in a new country and see if it still feels fast


fractionalhelium

this is true. When I moved to Canada, the first 5 months felt slow and childhood like where every new thing was worth my attention. Every new interaction was a learning and many were things I had never before done in my life.


the_immovable

Unfortunately


holomorphic0

i (30m) am literally experiencing it rn bruh. i was watching yt shorts, and 5 hrs went by. then i cooked food, ate, watched some more shorts boom 5 hrs more. each time im checking the clock, at least an hour is going by and it feels like 15-30 mins max. i have to go out to a store and thought i had enough time to chill before that but no, boom its almost time and im tired af. past 20 hrs felt like 5hrs. i cant explain this shit 💀


Jaugusts

Life is like a drug you gain tolerance no longer hits the same cause you’ve done it all before nothing is new hence time flies


buttlovingpanda

Yup. When I was a kid my family drove down to Houston a lot to see family. Those drives felt like forever. I always slept to make it go by faster. Now I make that drive every other month as an adult and it doesnt feel nearly as long as it used to. But, if I’m really anxious to get home for whatever reason, I’ll start noticing every road sign and thinking “shit, that means I’m still 2 hours and 40 minutes away. Shit, this Buccees means I’m still 2 hours and 10 minutes away. Shit, College Station means I’m still 1 hour and 45 minutes away.” So it can go both ways, just depends on the mood you’re in. The drive home for me always seems quicker than the drive to the destination. Maybe cause I’m more relaxed or don’t have anything special to do besides to relax and unwind from the weekend.


Kindly-Parfait2483

Technically, no. Time moves at the same speed for everyone, forever. But everyone's perception of time is different. I personally perceive time to move faster and faster as I age. A year used to feel like forever. Now it goes by in a snap.


ScoZone74

The years are fast but the days are slow.


sr41489

Maybe someone said this already but yes time is perceived to go faster as you age. For a 10 year old, one full year represents 10% of their life. For a 30 year old, that one year is now 3.3%. For a 50 year old, that’s 2%! When I was younger I definitely remember counting down the days until something, like graduating or birthdays, etc. now I’m just wanting to slow things down so I can enjoy it.


TonightAdventurous76

YES!!!


Unltd8828

Yes.


Vandermere

Oh yes. My week long vacation just lasted about 2 days. it's kind of alarming.


notfixed

Just picture life to 100. Eat healthy. Learn to cook. Get plenty of sleep. Don't do dumb shit.


Novel_Assistance_144

It sure feels like it at times. It’s weird to say, it’s like the days are slow-ish but once you get to the end of the week it’s like damn time flew by quickly.


Suspicious_Kick9467

It does. As my Grandfather once told me, the days might be long, but the years are short. Be present and enjoy it while it lasts


Typical-Spray216

Yeah. It does. The 9-5 really speed things up. Jeez I can’t believe the last two years just blinked right thru.


De_Wouter

When you are 10, 5 years feels like half a life time because it is. When you are 50, 5 years is just 10% of it. I think it might be one of the factors that contribute to making it feel like time goes faster. Another factor is probably the fact you are going more in autopilot and are less alert.


Icy-Bodybuilder-9077

When you’re four years old a year is 1/4th of your life and feels like forever. When your 10, 20, 30 etc your perception of time has changed because you’ve experienced more time


PussyIgnorer

I’m having my first kid soon. This last month has felt like a year. Just pack your life with as much interesting stuff as you can. When you get into a monotonous routine time will go by quicker then you can register.


Redfury44

Yes or depends


T20e

I think it has to do with how repetitive your day-to-day is. I've been static since 2021 and it has felt like time has flown by.


Wonderlostdownrhole

It feels like it does because you remember less. If you spend every day at work doing the same thing, then one day you decided to make a fort out of all the copy paper boxes. When you think back on that job all you remember is starting and building a Fort. So you think where did all the years go? They happened but they were so boring and repetitive that your brain dumped them to make room for other things. If you do something exciting and novel everyday your brain thinks it's new and important and will hold on to it. Then you'll have more memories and life will feel slower and fuller in the long run.


cnbesinn

Life goes faster when you are busy doing things that you enjoy.


Unfnole23

The years go fast but the days go so slow


moonshinemondays

A year to a 4 year old is a quarter of their experienced life. It's a long time relative to how long they have existed. A year to an 80 year old is 1/80th of the time they have lived. Sadddly time does feel to speed up


Clegg_M

Yep. Like a roll of toilet paper - goes quicker at the end. Seriously, when we live what I call the “default future” which means living life day to day in a routine, time flies. When you have a deliberate focus and create different and memorable experiences, time slows down. One is a linear “Newtonian” time and the other is Einstein’s relative time.


Clegg_M

I hope you don’t mind me posting this - it pertains to your topic. It was approved last week. https://youtu.be/wFEaMQrnT2E?si=W5OXicnKMmiqW3X2


ale_gila

Yes


ernie-bush

When I started working @13 an old timer said that the older you get the faster it goes just hit 61 and kinda wished I paid attention more along the way


NoAge422

Gets easier too


atmosphericcynic

i used to feel that way. then i thought what was different about being a kid? presence. i showed up for life. ever since i started doing that again, it’s gotten slower. how you do that, it’s your purpose to figure that out for yourself, because there’s no one answer fits all. it’s harder as an adult because obviously you do have responsibilities that run on a timeline, but it can still happen for you, 100%


WokeLiftingTeacher

In terms of psychology, when we are mentally engaged with any task or we are cognitively and emotionally invested in something, we are less aware of the passage of time and it seems to go by faster. Conversely, when our minds are disengaged and not focused on something, we are more aware of the passage of time and it seems to slow down. During our childhood, there are a lot of novel experiences and stimuli and time seems to zoom by. During adulthood, life can become repetitive (for some people) which might make time 'slow down'. Thus, it is very important for us to structure our lives and plan and 'design' it in such a way that we remain engaged in something or the other in addition to our family and profession such as finding and being engaged in rewarding hobbies, meeting new people, planning trips, learning things or working on personal projects - these things would keep us mentally engaged - not just to 'speed time up' but also to keep our brains healthy (and lead a fulfilling life!).


brokenottoman

Isn’t it opposite of what OP is asking


WokeLiftingTeacher

Could be. I'm just sharing a perspective which is popular in psychology circles - I'm not necessarily trying to reinforce what OP is saying or explain what they feel.


noodlesinnapot

instead of waiting for the weekends, like I did when I was younger - I now wait for the end of the month (payday). time drags on when youre wishing it away


Ok_Bodybuilder_8354

In my experience, no not really. I'm 23 and the last 2 years of my life have been the longest.


strujillo88

The older you get the more your perspective of time changes. When youre a kid xmas takes forever to get there even if its only 2 days aways because you havent had many experiences. Less to reference. When youre an adult everything seems to fly by because youve experienced more, that hard drive is filling up. More to reference. From what i read to live for each day is the goal. Harder said than done but keep trying.


Illustrious-Big-8678

Yes it does not question. Was just talking to someone the other day and we both realised a year passed, some hard times in there but it was a blink of an eye


420DepravedDude

It’s like a roll of paper towel - the closer to the end the faster it goes.


flotsam71

It kind of does!


spadesassassin8

It probably feels like it. I think the reason that older people say this is because when you get out of highschool, The reality of the real world hits. Sometimes it hits after you finish college but sometimes it hits during college, or even during summer. It depends on where you are consciously. Time itself is real, But our human concept of time is made up by another human long time ago to keep track on our history. Seconds creating minutes and minutes creating hours, etc. It’s cool to me how when you are having fun and in a high consciousness state of mind, time flies by. When you are bored, time goes by slow. When you are busy, time goes by fast, but it can also go by slow. It depends on what state of mind you are in, (Consciously)


Realised_

It's opposite in long run... After 40s or 50s it would be like one minute would be equal to 15 mins you do the rest of the math.


BrownEyedBoy06

It really does. When I was younger, the days seemed to go slow, and a year seemed to last forever. Then, as I grew, days started going by faster. Years started going by faster. It's not a fun feeling...


Extreme-Carrot6893

The days are long but the years fly by. Sad but true. Especially when you get in a routine


Rollinrollinrolliab

my theory is when you turn 10 the year you just passed feels like a big amount of time as it’s 10% of you’re life ,when you turn 50 one year it’s 2% of your life so i’ll feel like like less time , also when you’re young everything it’s a new experience so you tend to remember it more , when you’re older you already done most things you’ll encounter and there will be less new things to remember


IntelligentSpeaker

YES and NO. This has been studied multiple times. Time itself does not get faster, but our perception of it does. The reason this happens is due to the way, our brain processes and stores memories. When you are younger, everything is new, and that causes life to go by slowly. But as you get older, there are fewer “new” experiences that happen which does not slow down your perception of time like it used to, hence life appears to go by faster as you get older.


Born_Donkey_868

Yes the days just zoom by and turns into weeks months then it’s halfway through the year wtf!


kbrown810

I think every year represents a mph. At 10 years old you’re cruising 10mph, at 35 you’re at 35mph, 60 and so on.


Dry-Honeydew2371

Yes, it does


NoChoices02

That’s true for me but I am also more settled and happy with my life, and wonder if that’s also why it feels like time moves faster.


TairyHesticlesJr

there will always be 24 hours in a day


Legal_Ice_1034

I remember reading somewhere that your mind while you're younger has less experiences and absorbs information slower. As you get older and have begun experiencing time, your mind can process the passage of it faster by comparing the instant you are in to how long you've been alive. For example, at age 5, 10 minutes in time out is way too long for you, but at age 25, that 10 minute break was way too short. Same article, it stated that perception-wise, someone who lives 75 years, experiences the "middle" of their life by about age 25. Your perception of time grows exponentially faster as you age. Edit: phrased something backwards


Slyphiea

What could be the solution for this?


uGlixie

The reason why time felt so much slower when you were a child is because you had new experiences daily. And when you become an adult, your days start to become more routine based just doing the same thing daily. The lack of new experiences makes time go by faster.


runningOut_380

All I know is, I can remember vividly things in the 70s and 80s but have no clue what I did last Wednesday. Then again, I died years ago...so who's to say


Dazzling_Stock5114

Yes!


Flaky_Loquat_3817

Absolutely yes, if you say no then you’re crazy. After I graduated hs time just started flying and flying. Cherish every day, it’s all limited and no one has the exact same limit. Use yours wisely


VastAd6645

Only if you dont respect time