The ’90s rock group Smash Mouth captured a universal sentiment in their hit single “All Star” with the line, “Well, the years start coming, but they don’t stop coming.” As we step into 2026, many are left wondering where 2025 went—and the years before it. The perception of time speeding up as we age is a common experience, prompting questions about how we perceive time, why certain events seem to fly by while others drag, and whether it’s possible to manipulate our perception of time.
How We Perceive Time
Dr. Peter Riggs, a physicist and philosopher of science at the Australian National University, explains that we experience time as a passage. “We human beings live out our days in the present moment which seems to advance into the future. This is how we subjectively ‘perceive’ time,” he says. Temporal markers, such as events of personal or societal significance, help establish our sense of time moving forward.
However, Riggs points out that there is no objective time.
“Our perceptions of time need not reflect time’s actual structure. There is no consensus about time’s nature and the passage of time may not be physically real but only a psychological phenomenon,”
he adds.
Professor Hinze Hogendoorn, head of the Time in Brain and Behaviour Laboratory at the Queensland University of Technology, notes that unlike senses such as smell, sight, or taste, there is no organ for perceiving time. Instead, our brains infer it. “There’s no time particle or wave that can be detected. So technically, we don’t perceive time as such, but we infer paths of time from the fact that things unfold,” Hogendoorn explains.
The Time Paradox
A puzzling paradox of time is the difference between prospective and retrospective time—how our brains infer time in the moment versus time in the past. Reflecting on a mundane activity, such as a long-haul flight or waiting for water to boil, time seems to drag in the moment but feels like it passed quickly in hindsight.
Conversely, the saying “time flies when you’re having fun” holds true, but a year filled with excitement and novelty can feel slower when looking back. Hogendoorn elaborates,
“This is something that always breaks people’s heads because there is no objective time for our brains to detect, and we infer time on the fly.”
He adds, “If you sit on the floor and stare at the wall or clock for an hour, that’s really hard because you get bored and that makes time crawl. You need distraction to make time pass.”
Retrospectively, in the absence of significant distractions or moments, our brains tend to collapse months and years together, creating the illusion of time passing quickly.
Why Some Events Pass Faster Than Others
As each year passes, many feel that time accelerates. A common explanation is that as we age, each year comprises a smaller fraction of our lives. Hogendoorn suggests another factor is the absence of novelty and significant milestones. “Young kids are doing things for the first time. They go to school for the first time, they have their first relationship, they have their first job. All those things are exciting,” he explains.
For adults, routine often takes over. “At the end of the week, they might have nothing particularly new to report and can feel like there’s not enough time in the day, but at the same time, time flies by,” Hogendoorn notes. Emotional states also influence our perception of time, according to Riggs, which is why time seems to slow during traumatic or near-death experiences.
“The ‘passage’ of time does seem to pass more slowly during brief, dangerous events, such as car accidents,”
Riggs says. “This is related to the brain recording such events in greater detail than usual.”
How to Slow Down Time
Hogendoorn offers a simple yet unsatisfying answer to slowing down time: “Sit down on the floor and stare at the wall if you want to slow down time.” However, some research suggests that spending time in nature may help stretch our perception of time. In one experiment, university students who walked in nature reported time passing more slowly than those who walked in urban settings.
Clinical psychologist Dr. Rebecca Ray suggests practicing mindfulness to be more present. “Start by noticing. Bringing attention to small moments helps, like tasting your coffee, taking a breath before the next task, or stepping outside between meetings. You can’t create more time, but you can experience it more fully,” she advises.
Slowing down time proactively involves shaking up routine and introducing novelty and spontaneity into our lives. This could mean taking a holiday or simply changing your route to work. However, for neurodivergent individuals, for whom routine provides stability and calm, significant changes may not be desirable.
As we continue to grapple with the nature of time and our perception of it, understanding these dynamics can help us make the most of our days, whether they seem to fly by or crawl at a snail’s pace.
