Time often seems to sprint as we age, a feeling echoed by Thai families across the country. New research summarized in the European Review sheds light on why our brains mark time differently as we grow older and offers practical steps to savor daily life, tailored for Thai readers.
The core idea is simple: time perception shifts with life stages. Children experience many firsts—new classrooms, skills, and activities—that flood the brain with distinct memories. Adults tend to follow routines, creating fewer novel moments. When daily life becomes predictable, days and months blur, and time feels faster.
A psychologist from a Bangkok research institute notes that time awareness is closely tied to daily novelty. When memory formation slows, our sense of time narrows. This helps explain why a school day can feel endless to a child, while a full workweek may vanish in a blur for many adults.
Beyond memory, the brain treats new information more intensely, forming richer memory traces. For kids, everyday moments—lunchroom chatter, lively lessons, playground games—become chapters in the brain’s story. In contrast, adult routines like commuting and chores reduce memorable episodes, compressing the perceived span of time.
Immersive virtual reality research from 2024 adds nuance: older adults tended to underestimate time intervals by about 15 percent, suggesting that novelty sharpens the internal clock. Highly predictable lives make holidays feel sooner, while trying new activities slows the countdown to celebrations and heightens anticipation.
Aging also affects processing speed. The brain samples the world more slowly, reducing the number of impressions captured each second. Fatigue and diminished attention further contribute to the sense that time slips away.
Sleep and alertness matter as well. Chronic fatigue weakens memory encoding, making weeks or months feel less distinct. Poor rest blurs events not because they didn’t happen, but because the brain didn’t capture enough moments.
Digital habits complicate matters. Even with feeds that seem novel, algorithm-driven content often recycles similar videos and trends. Hours spent scrolling can erode memory clarity, especially when blue light disrupts sleep. Thailand’s highly connected youth population makes these dynamics particularly relevant.
Older adults in cross-country studies report feeling that the year passed “crushing by,” with daily predictability a stronger factor than health. Some seniors, however, stay “super-agers” by maintaining an active social life and ongoing learning, which preserves a vivid sense of time through continual novelty.
So how can Thais slow the feeling of time slipping away? Practical, everyday steps work across ages and settings. Establish a regular sleep routine of seven to nine hours per night to support sharp memory and time awareness. Then inject weekly life with new experiences: visit a fresh market, sample a regional dish, join a local dance or language class, or take a different route to work or school. While engaging in these activities, savor details—the aroma of street food, the artistry of a temple mural, or birdsong in a city park. Small, focused moments accumulate into a richer memory album, making each day feel fuller.
Experts suggest swapping some digital scrolling for genuinely novel experiences. Try a new walking path, taste a cuisine from another Thai region, or learn a traditional craft such as khit weaving or bamboo percussion. Every new sensory input—smell, sound, sight, or taste—adds pages