By Dale Simonson
Do you ever feel like time is passing faster as you get older? If so, you’re not alone. Most people do. Why is that? Some people think it’s just what happens as we age. Some think it’s because life just gets so busy.
Well, what if you discovered the real reason is because we stop creating new memories? In adulthood, our days tend to all start looking identical. The same daily commute, the same people around us, the same office routine… it’s the sameness of life that puts us into sleepwalking mode. Our brains process time differently as life becomes predictable. The days blur. One month feels like a copy/paste of the previous one. Years fly by. Instead of recording fresh new memories, our brain starts to compress the memories we have.
Think about it. As a child, so many things you experience each day are new. The first time you try each new food, experience each new activity, meet each new set of classmates and learn each new subject in each new year of school. The brain is flooded with newness. Then school is done and the sameness of the working world sets in.
There’s a simple way to fix that phenomenon. Make lots of new memories. They don’t have to be epic in nature (although that can help). Just change the route of your daily commute once in a while. Introduce yourself to a new neighbor each week. Try a new place for your morning coffee, learn to play an instrument, or sign up for a night school class. There are infinite ways to create more and more different new memories. Anything that helps prevent your brain from running on autopilot.
Novelty stretches time by turning your brain back on. The more you introduce friction, challenge and curiosity into your life, the more active your brain will be and the more time seems to expand. Essentially, the fuller your life is with newness, the more expansive it feels.
So come on. Make a conscious effort to try something new every day – even if something small – to break the sameness of life and to slow time.