Does Time Really Slow Down as You Get Older? The Pie Chart of Life

Have you ever thought about how life seemed so much faster as a child – and now you just have no idea where the time goes? For instance, I remember sitting down to watch Sesame Street as a kid, which was an hour long show – and half way through I would ask my Mom, “How much longer?” It literally seemed like that show went on FOREVER. Now don’t get me wrong, I liked Sesame Street and all, but an hour was SUCH a long time. Now I sit down and watch 3 hours of television at once and feel like no time went by at all. Also, car rides – it took on average probably 45 minutes to drive to my grandparent’s house, and each time it felt like an eternity that would never end, even though I had fun and exciting things to do in the car, like Gameboy and some books (yes, the old grey brick of a Gameboy! Woo!). But now my daily commute to work is longer than 45 minutes and it just trucks on by (except on the days with bad traffic – let’s be honest). Sometimes I get to work and barely remember driving at all – I was just lost in thought. But those 45 minutes were torturous as a child.

So why does this happen? I think we have all experienced the phenomenon as we get older, where time just seems to zip on by. Where did last month go? How is it the end of the week already?

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