For many Thais, it’s a familiar refrain heard from elders: “Each year passes faster than the last.” This shared experience, long chalked up to nostalgia or busy lives, now has new scientific backing. Recent research published in the journal European Review and summarized in an Earth.com article explains why our perception of time truly seems to speed up with age, lending insight into both the mechanics of the brain and possible ways for everyone, young or old, to reclaim a sense of fuller, richer days (Earth.com).
The phenomenon is not simply folklore or psychological trickery. Scientists have discovered that our brains literally “record” time differently at different stages of life. The research highlights that children and teenagers encounter frequent “firsts”—from attending school for the first time to learning new skills or enjoying activities that are entirely new. These novel experiences flood the young brain with a wealth of unique memories, stretching out the perceived length of each day. In contrast, adults often fall into routines, replaying similar activities daily. With fewer novel experiences to anchor memories, days and even months can blend together, making time feel as if it’s racing forward.
According to a psychologist at the Institute for Frontier Areas of Psychology and Mental Health (IGPP), the sensation that time quickens is closely connected to how much “newness” the brain experiences each day. This researcher emphasizes, “Memory and time perception sit on the same neural bench; when one slows, the other shrinks. ‘Newness’ holds the key to this phenomenon.” This perspective helps clarify why, for example, a single school day might feel endless to a child while a workweek can slip past almost unnoticed for many adults.
The science of time perception is rooted not just in memory but also in how the brain processes new information. When our brains encounter something unfamiliar, they devote more attention to recording it, creating more substantial memory logs. For children, the world is packed with these moments—lunchroom jokes, interesting lessons, games at recess—each one a chapter in the brain’s mental storybook. Adults, however, often experience “copy and paste” days featuring routine work, chores, or commutes. In retrospective memory, their weeks become condensed, often feeling like little more than a brief highlight reel.
Adding to this, recent experiments utilizing immersive virtual reality in 2024 found that older adults routinely underestimated time intervals by about 15 percent, further proving that novelty sharpens our internal clock. Consistent routines don’t just condense memories of the past—they also seem to diminish the richness of the present, leading to a sensation that holidays like Songkran, Loy Krathong, or New Year’s arrive more quickly year after year. Studies tracking people in multiple countries around major festive seasons revealed that those with more predictable routines reported time flying faster, while those who tried new activities perceived the lead-up to celebrations as slower and more enjoyable.
Physical aging also plays a role, as the body’s neural processing speed naturally slows down over time. In youth, nerve signals zip efficiently from the senses to the brain. But as we grow older, those highways lengthen and signals slow, meaning the brain takes fewer “samples” of the world each second. Scientists liken this to a flipbook: each glance or fixation of the eye is like a page. The more fixations the brain can record per minute, the more vivid that segment of life feels. As people age or fatigue, both the eyes and brain sample the environment less frequently, effectively “removing pages” from the flipbook, and causing time to feel increasingly compressed.
Sleep and alertness are other crucial factors. Poor or insufficient rest slows neuronal activity, lowers baseline attention, and makes it harder to record sharp memories. As a result, events may feel like they blur past, much as students experiencing an all-nighter or staff facing a groggy morning will notice. Over extended periods, chronic fatigue can make whole weeks or months feel lost to memory, not because less happened, but because the weary brain registered fewer moments.
Somewhat counterintuitively, today’s digital habits complicate the issue. Social media appears filled with novelty, yet in reality, algorithm-driven feeds often present near-identical content—videos, memes, and trends—again and again. Hours spent scrolling turn into a memory haze, especially as blue light delays bedtime, compounding both the lack of sleep and variety in daily routine. For many younger Thais, who make up one of the world’s most digitally engaged populations, this finding is especially relevant (DataReportal).
A recent survey comparing perceptions of time between young adults and retirees found that older individuals were twice as likely to describe the year as “crushing by,” a finding correlated more with daily predictability than with health status. However, the study also highlighted “super-agers”—seniors who maintain active social lives and continue to learn new skills—who retain a much sharper, more detailed sense of time, thanks to their continued exposure to novelty.
So, what can Thais do to “slow down” subjective time? The good news is that proven strategies fit easily into everyday life, regardless of age, occupation, or location—city, countryside, or island. Setting a strict sleep routine, aiming for seven to nine hours nightly, is fundamental for optimal mental recording and time awareness. Next is intentional variety: each week, plan a new activity, whether that’s exploring a market you’ve never visited, trying a new seasonal dish, joining a dance or language class, or even taking a different route to work or school. During these activities, engage your senses fully—notice the smells of street food, the intricacies of a temple mural, or the sound of birds in a city park. That attention to detail, even in micro-doses, packs the brain’s “memory album” with new snapshots, making each day feel fuller.
Experts recommend that instead of passively consuming digital content, individuals swap out some of their scrolling time for activities that offer real novelty. This could be as simple as discovering a new walking path, sampling a cuisine from another region of Thailand, or taking up a creative hobby such as weaving khit cloth or learning the bamboo xylophone. As the article notes, every unfamiliar sensory input—smell, sound, sight, or taste—adds more pages to the flipbook of one’s day, effectively stretching time within our memories.
Culturally, these findings harmonize with elements of Thai tradition, such as the value placed on festivals, community events, and lifelong learning. Participation in these activities, especially for older adults, not only helps preserve cultural heritage but also bolsters mental health and, as the science suggests, may slow the subjective passage of time. This reinforces the importance of intergenerational engagement, where grandparents participate in school events or community groups, learning alongside young people and preserving a mutual sense of novelty (WHO: Ageing and Health).
Looking ahead, the implications for health and education policy are significant. For Thailand’s rapidly aging population, which is set to become one of the oldest in ASEAN by 2030, supporting active, lifelong learning and community participation could help buffer feelings of time loss and promote emotional well-being (UNFPA Thailand). Likewise, in schools, crafting curriculums that prioritize practical experiences, field trips, and exposure to diverse activities will ensure that students of all ages remain engaged and attentive, “stretching” their perceived school years and building stronger memories.
Practical recommendations for Thai readers are thus twofold. First, whether young, middle-aged, or elderly, seek novelty every week—visit new spots, try new experiences, and dive into community or creative opportunities. Second, prioritize good sleep hygiene and regular rest. These steps, backed by both scientific evidence and traditional Thai values of curiosity and lifelong learning, promise to enrich both memory and day-to-day satisfaction, helping all generations feel that time is once again on their side.
For Thais interested in reading the full research, references are available in the European Review, and a summary can be accessed on Earth.com, with related insights from the World Health Organization, DataReportal, and UNFPA Thailand.