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At what I hope to be a little less than halfway through mortality, I’ve definitely begun to feel the onset effects of aging. Shrinking family. Thinning hair. Achy body.

Perhaps the biggest, though, is how much quicker time flies. Decades pass like years. “Recent” memories aren’t so recent. They’re downright old.

Although no one can literally slow time, each of us can slow how we experience it. Here are 10 ways for doing just that:

1. Understand why time speeds up with age. Psychologically, each year feels like a slice of one’s lifetime. To a 10‑year‑old, a year is 10% of their life. At 80, it’s just 1.25%—making each year feel fleeting. This “percent‑of‑life” theory explains why latter years seem to evaporate faster.
2. Break from norm. Routine compresses memory. With repetitive days, weeks quickly merge into months and months into years. To counter that, we must break from rote routine and create more “memory markers,” which lengthen the amount of time perception. To that end…
3. Surround yourself with novelty. New experiences force our brain to process more “footage.” Neuroscientist David Eagleman explains that novelty slows perceived time by increasing “memory density.” The more new hobbies, language, instruments, and different routes to work, the denser our memory becomes, which slows the perception of time.
4. Embrace foreign vacations. You may think your foreign holiday flies by, but in reflection it can also seem endless. That’s because new sights, sounds, and surroundings trigger our brain’s memory more than everyday sights at home, thus stretching retrospective time. Moral of the story: if you want to savor life more, travel more.
5. Focus on one thing at a time. Multitasking speeds time. But when you focus deeply on one task, you create richer neural traces that stretch time duration. The takeaway: pay attention, live in the present, and linger longer.
6. Engage in strategic boredom. “Do nothing” days—or boredom—can actually slow time. Without overstimulation, your mind elevates low‑level sensations and makes time move slowly. Hence the paradox: less stimulus equals more minute‑by‑minute vividness.
7. Be selfish with your time. If activities don’t interest or excite you, remove them from your calendar. To protect your days like the precious gifts they are, say “no” to banal commitments. And never let up. Your hourglass is worth fighting for.
8. Get outdoors in bigger spaces. Our brain encodes novel and spacious layouts more deeply. Whether on a hike or in a quiet park, physical variation makes days feel richer and more substantial. To really kick this into overdrive, seek out wide open spaces like sprawling deserts, massive mountains, endless oceans, and enormous skies.
9. Reflect on memories and feelings. Journaling cements life’s details into our memory better than anything else. When done regularly, this too can slow the passage of time. To amplify this effect, be sure to note the sensory details of what you experience: sights, sounds, smells, and conversations that serve as powerful time anchors.
10. Invite daily micro-events into your life. No need for extravagant trips or dinners. Small surprises—walking somewhere new, grabbing mid‑day drink with a friend, cooking a novel recipe—inject freshness. Even exploring your own neighborhood can significantly slow time perception.

If you want to slow time, treat each day as irreplaceable. Trade autopilot for curiosity. Mix the mundane with the novel. Make room for boredom, journal your senses, and embrace dense memories. When life fills with those things, the years don’t speed up. They stretch out, rich and memorable—just as you’ve lived them.