Childhood Summers Felt Endless (Here’s why...)

Childhood: Why Days Felt Endless

When you were a kid, a single day felt like a lifetime… 

You’d wake up, eat cereal, run outside, play until the street lights came on, and somehow still squeeze in more.

🔸 Everything was new. First time at the park, first bike ride, first summer camp, your brain treated each thing as a big deal.

🔸 Your hippocampus was firing strong. This little seahorse-shaped bit in your brain handles memory and time. In childhood it’s buzzing, soaking up details and storing them like crazy.

🔸 More memories = slower time. The more events your brain logs, the “longer” that day feels when you look back. That’s why a week of school holidays feels like a whole chapter of life, while last week at work feels like… Tuesday, then suddenly Friday.

Think about when you moved to a new place, like me moving to London at 17. Every bus ride, every shop, even the weather felt different. That year stretched forever compared to last year, which went by in a blink.

Childhood wasn’t magical just because we were young, it’s because our brains were constantly recording novelty, and that density of memories slowed down our sense of time.

Adulthood: Why Time Accelerates

Then you grow up… and the days start to blur.

🔹 Routine takes over. Wake up, check your phone, go to work, eat, scroll, sleep. When every day looks the same, your brain has no reason to record extra detail.

🔹 Your dopamine drops. This brain chemical makes new stuff feel exciting. But with age, dopamine systems slow down. Things that once lit you up now feel… normal. Without that spark, the brain stops marking events as special.

🔹 Compressed time. When you look back, there’s just not much to recall. That’s why whole months in adulthood feel like a blur compared to one childhood summer.

Psychologists call it temporal compression, when repetitive routines shrink your sense of time. Brain scans even show less activity in memory hubs like the hippocampus during routine tasks.

That’s why life at 25, 35, or 45 can feel like it’s rushing past you. It’s not that the clock runs faster, it’s that your brain is logging less.

Aging: The Brain Changes That Warp Time

As the years stack up, the brain itself starts to change.

🔸 The hippocampus shrinks. Studies show it loses about 2-3% of its volume every decade. That’s the part of your brain that handles memory and time, so fewer new experiences get stored.

🔸 Recollection turns into familiarity. Younger brains recall vivid details. Older brains rely more on “I’ve seen this before” feelings instead of rich memories.

🔸 The internal clock slows. Dopamine systems fade with age, which makes your inner timing mechanism drag. Paradoxically, this makes the outside world feel like it’s speeding up.

Scientists call this the fatigue effect, as your inner clock weakens, the years outside feel shorter and shorter.

That’s why older adults often say decades vanish in what feels like a moment.

How to Slow Time Down Again

Here’s the good news: time speeding up isn’t permanent. 

Your brain is still plastic, meaning it can rewire and refresh at any age.

You can hack the same mechanisms that made childhood summers feel endless.

🔹 Add novelty on purpose. You don’t need to climb trees again (unless you want to). Just shake up routines - new café, different walking route, trying sushi for the first time. Even small changes light up your hippocampus.

🔸 Keep learning. Pick up a language, play guitar, take a dance class, or just learn a skill on YouTube. Studies show active learning boosts neuroplasticity and makes time feel fuller.

🔹 Practice mindfulness. Being present slows your internal clock. Short breathing breaks, meditation apps, or simply noticing your surroundings while walking can expand moments.

🔸 Enrich your environment. Travel helps, but even local adventures count. Museums, live music, new parks - your brain craves variety.

🔹 Lock in memories. Journaling, taking photos, or sharing stories with friends strengthens recall. The more distinct memories you have, the richer that week or year feels when you look back.

Time doesn’t have to slip away faster every year. With novelty, awareness, and learning, you can stretch it back out, and live a life that feels longer, not shorter. 😊

Tools & Resources

Why Life Speeds Up as You Get Older - A fascinating book on the science of memory and time perception, explaining why childhood feels endless and adulthood races by.

Mind Lab Pro - A research-backed nootropic that supports memory formation, focus, and learning. Helpful if you want your brain to lock in more experiences instead of letting days blur together.

Headspace - Mindfulness training that teaches you to slow down, notice details, and make moments feel richer.

Novelty Log - Write down one new thing you did each day. Over time, this creates a library of memories that makes weeks feel longer.

Thank you for reading 🙏

The best way to slow time is to actually live it and make your days exciting.

As a kid I was never home, basketball practice, biking, beach trips, ice cream runs, the woods, the dog. Packed days that felt endless…

Now I try to recreate that. College in the day, gym after, swimming lessons, boxing, walks in the park, new restaurants, even random trips to nearby cities.

I don’t want my weeks to blur, I don’t want today to be a copy of yesterday.

Here’s the trick: do more, try more, live more, learn more.

Even small things can make days feel bigger :)