Why does time feel like it speeds up as we get older?

When we’re young, everything feels new. Our brains are constantly encoding novel experiences, which engages the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex in forming dense, detailed memories. These rich memory “files” make summers and school years feel full and long in retrospect.

As we age, daily routines become more predictable. With fewer novel experiences to encode, the brain creates fewer memory markers. This makes months and years blend together, and in hindsight, time feels like it passed more quickly.

There’s also a proportional effect: one year at age 10 is 10% of your life, but at age 30 it is only about 3%. This subjective shrinking of time adds to the feeling of life accelerating.

The good news? Seeking out novelty, new skills, environments, or social connections reactivates the brain’s learning systems and can make time feel richer and more expansive again.