Using Novelty to Hack Time Perception

This is part two of a series on time. Here’s part one.

While we may not be able to manipulate time per se, we can influence our perception of it.

I’ve often wondered why it seems like a one-week trip seems to occupy the same amount of mental space as two years working the same monotonous job. Or if I did many different things during the day (say reading at a coffee shop, taking a hike, getting dinner with a friend, and then going to a party), it seemed the day would stretch out much longer than the days spent at home on the computer.

Or take COVID lockdown, for example. I have very few memories of that dull time. The most I can recall is going to the park to see freshly fallen snow and celebrating my birthday by ordering a veggie burger for delivery. Did COVID last a month or years? I logically know the answer, but my internal recollection of the time could point to a few months.

There’s a reason for this phenomenon: psychologists believe the brain forms more memories of new experiences than familiar ones. As more memories form, time seems drawn out. This might also be why older people tend to perceive time as moving faster than children and young people: older people tend to form fewer new memories. (Source)

With this in mind, we can purposely explore novel experiences to prolong our experience of time. This can be as simple as doing something new every Saturday or taking an annual backpacking trip, or as extensive as building your life around novelty by living nomadically. And since novelty for the sake of novelty may be a bit aimless, it seems ideal to choose experiences that deepen your sense of meaning and purpose.