All In The Mind - How To Speed Up Or Slow Down Time - BBC Radio 4

2. Don’t watch so much TV

When you are tired and feel like doing nothing, watching TV might seem like the perfect activity; you don’t have to concentrate too hard, and it both distracts you from your worries and entertains you. So far, so good. But if you’re looking to slow down time, the problem with television – and the same applies to computer games and time spent online – is that it doesn’t lead to the formation of as many memories as other activities can.

Break routines whenever you can Claudia Hammond

When you look back on an evening of TV-watching, it can feel as though it’s disappeared. There is a solution though: make sure you only watch TV programmes or films that are so good that you never forget them.

3. Take an unfamiliar route to work

Getting off the bus a stop early or even walking on the other side of the road gives you a new perspective, causing you to create new memories and giving you the sense that time is going more slowly.

Make an effort to notice what’s going on around you. Which building has the nicest roof? How were the bus seats made? Pay attention to whatever you find interesting.

4. Avoid routine to stop the years flashing by

Inevitably there are more routines as we get older, particularly in middle age when many people are parents. Children thrive on routine, but the difficulty for parents is that this can make the days all merge into one.

There’s a saying that if you have small children the days go slowly (full of repeated tasks such as feeding and changing them), but the years go quickly, made all the more salient by your ever-growing children.

It’s impossible to avoid all routine, but whenever you get the choice then go to a different shop or pub, instead of always going to the same one. Break routines whenever you can or all those memories merge into one. If you can create a life which feels both novel and entertaining in the present, the weeks and years will feel long in retrospect.

5. But think about whether you really want to slow time down

Although we might regret the speed at which the years appear to be flashing by, this might not be all bad. It could demonstrate that you have a life that’s both full and fulfilling, rather than empty and lonely. Research has shown that time feels as if it’s going more slowly if we’re depressed, bored or terrified, none of which are appealing mental states. So maybe we don’t really want time to go more slowly after all.