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How can we slow down time... by having fun?

How can we slow down time... by having fun?

The feeling that time is passing quickly can be especially stressful around New Year's, making us feel out of control and fixated on the things we didn't get to accomplish. But it's possible to slow down our perception of time.

The human perception of time is very strange. It can move faster or slower, depending on what we are doing, and it can seem shorter or longer when we look back. Marc Wittmann of the Institute for Psychology and Mental Health in Germany calls this subjective experience “felt time,” as opposed to “clock time,” which is objective.

The way we experience time at a given moment doesn’t always match the way we remember it later. We all know that time flies when we’re having fun and drags when we’re being a “pig.” But when we look back on boring, routine-filled periods, the days melt and blur in our minds, making us feel like time passed more quickly. “When you look back on it later, it’s like nothing happened,” says Wittmann.

Experiments support this phenomenon. For example, when extreme sports athlete Beatriz Flamini emerged from a 70-meter-deep cave in Granada, Spain, in April 2023, she was surprised to learn that 500 days had passed. Reflecting on the time spent knitting, reading, drawing, and exercising, she thought only 160-170 days had passed.

Scientists believe this is because of the way memory works. When we look back, the number of memories we have created serves as an indicator of duration. Periods with many new and exciting memories seem longer, while periods with few new memories seem shorter.

Neuroscience studies support this hypothesis. A recent study showed that people who had greater activity in the hippocampus, the brain's immediate memory center, were more accurate in estimating the duration of a video clip. Meanwhile, those suffering from Alzheimer's disease, which is associated with hippocampal shrinkage and memory problems, have difficulty estimating time.

Innovations as a way to slow down time

Novelty helps us create more memories and make time feel longer in retrospect. This is one of the reasons why time seems to pass faster as we get older: when we are children, everything is new, but as we grow older, routine increases and we experience fewer new things.

To slow down time, you don’t have to go on expensive trips. Any change in routine, like meeting new people or pursuing a new hobby, can help. Remembering good times also helps to lengthen the perception of time. Keeping a journal or focusing on “what I did” instead of “what I need to do” can be helpful techniques.

Too much routine puts us on “autopilot,” and social media can make us feel like we’re wasting our time. Instead of watching other people’s lives online, live your own experiences. Instead of getting overwhelmed with New Year’s resolutions and overloading your life with routine, focus on the experiences you love and will remember. Carpe Diem!

Originally published on bota.al