My theory on time, and how it effects my life
I’ve been experiencing a strange sensation over the last 15 years or so that time is speeding up. I have a notion that plenty of people are feeling this effect as they get on in life, and much of what I am saying probably feels cliche and old hat, but the idea never really held much sway in my mind until the last few years.
Time is speeding up. For me, anyway. How do I know this? Unfortunately, I don’t have a good way to quantify this phenomenon in any sort of scientific way, and to someone watching casually from their teens or early 20′s, this sounds like bollocks, if I might borrow a term from our British friends.
I know that time is speeding up for me because I have way less of it than I used to, but more importantly than that, my perception of time is nothing like it was when I was younger.
As a kid, an hour seemed like three. Now, an hour seems like 15 minutes. Week long vacations seemed to last for months. Now they feel like a day and a half.
As a teenager, 2 years sounded like a lifetime. Now it sounds like not enough time.
I provided this simple chart (shown above) to sort of help explain my notion of time. The large labeled lines represent major points on my life, and all the little red ones represent various sub-events. As you can, later in the chart, these sub-events start to go up in volume. I think those are the key.
Would love your feedback as to whether or not I am feeling this way on my own, or if others share my plight.
Category: Journal 24 comments »
January 24th, 2010 at 3:00 pm
I get that feeling too…I’m only 25, but I know that way. The best way I can relate is leveling in FFXI. 30 was 8k exp and seemed to take forever……now its like, oh that’s all. It’s all relative. You just have a better idea of what the big picture is now, moreover, you seem to be enjoying life.
January 24th, 2010 at 3:02 pm
In a way, I think it is speeding up for you. The day you were born would have been the longest day of your life, it was all you knew. 100% of your life.
at the age of 40, a day is merely 1 out of 14,600. A mere fraction of your life, it blinks by.
From your perspective, each day becomes shorter and shorter.
Or something like that.
January 24th, 2010 at 3:42 pm
I do see your point. But I’m still a teenager, and days fly by, but for me, every day alone makes a difference. It’s a matter of getting something out of each day. Or is it?
January 24th, 2010 at 3:43 pm
Your brain has a chemical in it discoverd only a few years ago that helps in deleting non important data from your brain they found that this substance keeps you from rembering every little detail you record thu your sences . Ithink that as we get older and repatshion sets in (get up goto work come home) all that data is classafide as non inportaint and it all that data is chucked out like yesterdays newpapre. Kinda like when you go on a vacation for a week. Non of it is repatshion it all diffrent stuff. That why it feels like a long time..
January 24th, 2010 at 3:58 pm
I feel like that some times too Scott and I’m only 16. It feels like just yesterday that I was playing with my batman action figures and now I’m learning how to drive. It seems like it happened so fast and I sometimes fear about not being able to see what lies ahead of me and how fast it’s approaching. Highschool seems like a drag now but in a few years I’ll probably be looking back on it thinking of the good old days. Well there’s my essay for today, keep it real Scott. Durp!
January 24th, 2010 at 5:50 pm
Time does seem shorter the older you get. You and I are about the same age (by what I gather from your Podcast mentions), and I know I definately feel it. Major and minor milestones seem closer together. For example, it seems like not do long ago that I moved in with my best friend and away from a bad marriage. Yet it’s been over 5 years, I’m divorced, and my best friend is moving away to be closer to his aging parents. I think some of it has to do with our ability to comprehend the changes in our lives more clearly. At 15 or 16, I could not comprehend how much my life would change, so it seemed as if the change couldn’t get here fast enough. Now that I’m older, I understand change is inevidable, so it seems like the changes come sooner than I want. I feel like there is never enough time to enjoy the things I have before change happens and takes it all away. I never thought the day would come when I would be preparing for my parents old age, but here it is staring me in the face as I see my roommate prepare to do just that.
January 24th, 2010 at 6:15 pm
I’m 31, have a wife. 2 kids, a demanding job, and feel exactly the same as you Scott. Whatever the reason may be for this phenomenon, I feel it like some kind of warning, trying to remember us to not overload our lifes, to remember ourselves to take it easy when we can, to be more simple, to don’t forget to be a child sometimes. Anyway, thats how I think I can combat this “compression” problem.
January 24th, 2010 at 6:50 pm
I noticed that my personal time compression phenomenon began just before I got married and has been increasing at a steady rate since. I imagine that by the time I’m in my fifties I’ll have to take some serious drugs just to slow down daily events so I can comprehend them. I’m really looking forward to it.
January 24th, 2010 at 7:36 pm
My stepdad explained it with fractions. When you’re 10, a year is 1/10th of your life. But when you’re 40, that fraction is a much smaller. Made sense to me as to why time sped up as you got older. There’s also the roll of toilet paper theory – where time speeds up as you get closer to the end, like a roll of to seems to get used faster as you get to the end.
January 24th, 2010 at 7:37 pm
That’s tp not to. Stupid auto correct.
January 24th, 2010 at 8:04 pm
Scott,
I’d like to start by saying that I feel the compression of time without a doubt in my life. As you are born in this crazy wonderous world you find yourself surrounded by things you want to do but can’t because your too young to do them.
And like you said at the early stages of life you feel that things happen so slowly, adulthood seems to never get here… The burning desire to finally escape the clutches of school and your parents control seems to eat at you. Parents and teachers have no idea what the crap it’s like growing up this way, you tell yourself.
Time passes… And suddenly you wake up and realized $#%!!! I have become an adult and I can do anything I want and I’m free and I have my own money and my own place and things are great and you get married and the world seems to revolve around you and your bride!
Omg! We’re having a baby! Time passes…Omg we’re having another baby!! Omg!! You get the picture, next thing you know you’ve got three kids(3 girls in my case) and you know that you love them and your wife more than anything and you decide, no problemo! I can back burner some of my plans and dreams and Go work and take care of the family, and so, you do…
More time passes by as you are caught up in the viscious rat race we seem to get caught in these days, plans are back burnered as you do what it takes to take care of the ones that matter most in your life!
Turn around twice and you’re 10-15 years older… And you’re wondering where time has gone… The sweet little creatures that you vowed to Love and protect have gotten older and are now thinking of their own exicting future and how we have no idea what we are talking about.
But I say that to say this, viscious cycle? Seem sad? But no, take heart in this we are Life, our parents had raised us and i’d like to hope are proud of the people we have become. And even for people who’s parents did not play a role in their life should take encouragent from the fact that we can make a difference in others. We can change the way others see this sometimes dark world we live in.
As parents time seems to fly by so fast and those times where you look back and are wondering where time has gone may be the alarm going off in your brain telling you to relax a little, stop and smell the roses. Look at what you’ve accomplished in life!
Not to focus on myself as I guess Im a little over confident sometimes and definetely and eternal optimist to my core, but look at how life is now!
Just from the little time I’ve exchanged chats and email/twitters I’ve learned that you are a great husband, a wonderful father(good example Of this is you taking the time to council your daughter as mentioned in one of your cartoonist diary entries, but not just council, you really listened and showed her,no matter how trivial, her problems mattered to you!
You’ve brought great joy to alot of people Scott!
Me being one of them and what’s funny is as much as I enjoy your podcasts, extralife, Instance, appslappy and I can only hope to be that successful with mine some day… It’s your diary that I enjoy the most, yes thats right, the one you almost stopped cause you didn’t know if people liked it. Well my point is, look at what you’ve done and acomplished and think of the difference you’ve made… But not just with fans.. With your family! You love your wife with all your heart and soul and your kids as well, and you can tell, people can tell, they(wife and kids) can tell!!
In closing, at the age you are in life, things seem to move fast!
Things move fast because your busy.
Your busy because you sacrifice for the ones you love
But it’s worth it!! Am I right? Lives are being changed in a positive way. We all who play a key role in someones life should wish to take a leaf out of your book and hope life moves quickly in a positive life inspiring way for others and die knowing that, though it happened so fast, there were those we inspired and brought love, happiness and blissful memories to!
Sorry that was long, sorry bad proof reading, typed from iPhone :p
-Chris Pope
January 25th, 2010 at 4:22 am
Hi Scott,
I think we all fell the Time squeezing effect as we get older, but it’s worth realising that when you hit retirement age it seems to reverse a little. Most people find that when they stop working then free time seems to stretch on forever again, like it did back in those childhood days. A lot of people find that they don’t know what to do with the time, and fill it with all the things they never got a chance to do…so don’t worry! By the time it’s time for your kids to take care of their own kids, then you’ll likely feel a lot more chilled out!
January 25th, 2010 at 4:27 am
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Scott Johnson, Thomas Clemmons, Tobias Rasmussen, Michael, zicoundead and others. zicoundead said: RT @extralife: Blog post: "The Compression of Time" http://bit.ly/4AoESJ / Great post Scott, I totally relate to what you write about. [...]
January 25th, 2010 at 9:51 am
Scott,
A few years ago Michio Kaku, a theoretical physicist, did a show about Time for the BBC. The show had 4 segments?Daytime, Lifetime, Earth Time & Cosmic Time. In the Lifetime segment Kaku talks about our sense of how Time speeds up as we age. In fact he does an experiment that ?proves? Time does get faster as we age?see here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/documentaries/features/time2.shtml
I like you, have the feeling the Time is indeed much shorter now than when I was younger. It was interesting to hear a professor say that sense is an actual fact.
January 25th, 2010 at 10:56 am
Of course time is speeding up.
I’m the one causing it. That Reality Distortion Field I’ve got going has some interesting side effects.
January 28th, 2010 at 9:59 pm
I would love to respond but lost track of time.
Hmmm, that seemed funnier in my head.
February 3rd, 2010 at 12:53 pm
You know it’s funny, i was just reading this article
http://www.wbur.org/npr/122322542
which was done Feb 1st, then came here and read your idea on that too – You are ahead of the curve
It’s scary but this truly does happen. In a few days I’ll be 35 – and sadly I feel like I’ve wasted most of those years on nothing, and it’s all passed by me so fast. Feel like there is no time to really do something with my life before it’s done, that I’ve waited too long. I blink and a month is over. Turn around another year is done. Go to sleep, wake up and 5 years have passed. Lately I’ve been thinking about it too, and honestly have found it rather depressing in my case. Maybe this is my version of midlife crisis? Not sure. Or is it my subconscious’s way of telling me to wake up and do something else with your life?
Anyway, you are far from alone and from the article it appears others have been thinking about the same thing!
February 8th, 2010 at 9:01 pm
I’m with Katie. If you are complaining now, wait until about 6 months after retirement, when that honeymoon bubble bursts. You are SO excited about actually completing your career, that you spend ALL your time/money/gears trying to do everything you missed in life, WHILE you were working. Then, your back locks up and you have to stop golfing/chasingwomen/bungeejumping and you realize…
…. that time….
……………… once more…………….
….. crawls to a stop.
By the way, the OTHER reversal phenomenon is diapers. You start off in them, and by golly, you freaking end your life in them. Just wait ’til THAT hits your sanity.
February 14th, 2010 at 6:34 pm
I’m only 21, but I think I am beginning to feel some of what you’re talking about. Days seemed longer when I was very young, years seemed longer… I’m only half your age, but the fact that it’s already starting to become apparent to me I think provides further evidence for your theory.
Kind of a downer, but such is life, I suppose. I’m just thankful for the good that has happened to me, and hopefully all that will happen, however compressed it becomes.
February 14th, 2010 at 8:09 pm
In reference to Niika’s comment. I heard an apprentice and an old grumpy veteran lineman have an exchange once, “Boy, I was doing linework when you were in diapers!” “Yeah, well I’ll be doing linework when you’re in diapers too, Pal!” Classic!
February 14th, 2010 at 9:50 pm
That’s a really interesting concept. I definately feel the same sensation as you Scott, and I’m about the same age as you as well.
Is the sensation a physical one due to some chemical processes in our brains as they get older..or is it something more subtle, something more in line with having an ever broader set of life experiences to contrast against our day to day life? Or is it that when we’re younger we have less responsibility, less obligations, less people depending on us, and less awareness of the things we need to do?
Probably a combination of them all to some extent.
I know that when I was young, really young as in the 3rd, 4th 5th grade days seemed to stretch on forever. Whether that day was spent in school, or with friends, or just alone exploring my neighborhood; time seemed almost infinate. Summers went on forever, and school days dragged on and on. But while the things I was focused on were by and large less important tha the things I focus on as an adult, I don’t think I focused on any of them less intently. So it would seem that whatever causes it it’s not a lack of things to do, or a lack of attention.
These days it all seems so much shorter. Summer ends to quickly, days fly by and there’s never enough time to do everything I want to, everything I need to.
It’s definately a real sensation, and it’s interesting to wonder exactly what the basis is.
I watched the Michio Kaku video linked above where he did the experiment involving perception of time. It seemed that generally speaking younger people did count out a minute early while older people counted it out longer. That seems to indicate that as we get older some part of our brain gets fuzzier, slower – generally speaking of course, I’m sure there are outliers to this both old and young. However it must be a factor, whether it’s a function of the brain getting “filled” with memories” or just older..perhaps the decay of our brain cells even..somehow we must process things slower..even if it’s fractionally slower. Over time it must add up.
Maybe the less you know, the longer you have
March 8th, 2010 at 4:59 pm
I really do agree. I think it’s a variation of another phenomenon that we all have experienced. I believe Einstein said it best with “Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute, and it seems like an hour. Sit with a pretty girl for an hour, and it seems like a minute. THAT’S relativity.” As we get older we get more accustomed to the passage of time. Therefore it goes faster. Just a thought.
By the by, love your work. I appreciate it.
June 7th, 2010 at 9:32 am
I thought I was the only one! After the birth of my kids, time began speeding up and now, a year is only a second. I see my kids growing and my hair graying and my age changing and I still feel like I’m 18! I’m 38 and i think it’s because we are getting closer to the end of our lives and there’s not as much time as when we were yong left for us, therefore time itself seems ot be traveling at a faster rate.
Well, thats my take anywhoo. Love the shows.
Take care my friend.
July 15th, 2010 at 2:47 pm
From what i remember of grad school, there are actual reasons for this, although I can’t remember any citations at present. It’s worse when unemployed: I make long laundry lists to do and suddenly, 5 – 6 hours are gone, I’ve done nothing but check email and write.
Several things have helped me, but they do require persistence and motivation:
1.) Less time on the computer. The www just sucks time from my life. Period.
2.) Excercise. 1 hour of exercise *still* feels like an hour and a half. Thank goodness. Vigorous exercise will extend my day by a few hours, almost back to what life “felt” like in my early 20′s.
3.) Planning my time and then executing my tasks accordingly instead allowing myself to “drift” through my day. If I “drift” along, hours turn into seconds. Then, my end-of-day reflection is better, as well.