Is time whooshing past me? Maybe, sometimes.

Apparently, it does for old people. My mum used to say this all the time. Yes, time. Once Monday comes, before you know it, the week is over. And, Monday is back again to kick start another week. My sisters say it now. Last week a friend, whom I hadn’t seen in a while, said the same thing. The common denominator, old and older people. By that I mean, the over 65s.

I wonder if that is the crossover age, i.e., 65 when time seems to speed up, and life kind off slows down. If that be the case, I don’t have a long wait for time to pass me by.  Sigh. That said, I already have my share of fast time/days when I’ve felt like they ended too quickly. I’ve also had slow time/days that seemed to last forever. There is the same number of minutes and hours in any day of the week or month. How I felt or perceived time was probably influenced by what I did or didn’t do on those days.

Anyways, its good to know that this ‘time whizzing past’ is not imagined. Based on research, the perception of speeding time amongst the older folk is due to actual, physical changes to the aging brain and body.

Duke University’s professor of engineering and researcher,  Adrian Bejan explained, ‘When complex networks of nerves and neurons mature, they grow in size and complexity, leading to longer paths for signals to travel. As those paths age, they also degrade, giving more resistance to the flow of electrical signals.

And, as people get older, the rate at which new mental images are acquired and processed declines. Since older people view fewer new images in the same amount of actual time, it may seem as though time is passing faster[1].’

He went on to say, ‘Days seemed to last longer in our youth because the young mind receives more images during one day than the same mind in old age. People are often amazed at how much they remember from days that seemed to last forever in their youth. It’s not that their experiences were much deeper or more meaningful, it’s just that they were being processed in rapid fire[2].’ 

It means the old/older brain is still processing mental images based on what it sees, hears, and experiences. The difference is the processing of the images, albeit probably a smaller number of images, is slower due the brain’s physical degradation, resulting in the perception that time is moving faster. Interesting. Hmm.

Our sense of time is also influenced by other factors such as the experiences we have, and the things we do every day. The more new and fun experiences we have – variety is the spice of life and all that – the more time seems stretched. This usually happens when we are on a holiday, enjoying family and friends or learning or producing something stimulating. Our mind is processing more information and forming more mental images. Like when sister number 3 visited recently.

On the flipside, routine provides structure to our lives but it inhibits differentiation or spontaneity, making life a tad predictable and more unexciting.

A psychology professor at the University of Michigan, Cindy Lustig says, ‘ With fewer new experiences, our brains lump similar days and weeks together. This can make time feel like its passing more quickly because there are fewer memorable events to distinguish one period from another[3].’

Equally noteworthy is how social media has/is distorting how we perceive time. I’ve been caught out spending too much time, too many times. Doing what? Answering WhatsApp messages and emails. Watching YouTube videos on the pretext of learning to fix or understand something. Listening to all sorts of podcasts. And, scrolling Google mindlessly.  

‘The constant engagement can make minutes turn into hours without us noticing. The design of these platforms often encourages prolonged usage through features like infinite scrolling and autoplay videos, which can trap us in a loop where we lose track of how much time has actually passed[4].’

This I know first-hand as a certified insomniac. My brain functions, when it does, less well after a night of disrupted sleep, which is frequent. Lack of sleep makes cognitive functions like processing information more difficult, and this might change how we perceive time, making days feel shorter and more forgettable. Most older people I know don’t sleep much. Hmm.

Although time might feel like a runaway train at times, there are ways to slow it down a little.

• Tweak our daily routine with one or two new experiences each day.
• Keep the mind and body stimulated with interesting information and images to process.
• Go for a walk.
• Take up a new hobby.
• Learn a new skill or language.

All is not lost. Yay.