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Do the days get Shorter as we Age?

(25 Posts)
Fairycakes Tue 30-Jan-24 15:39:17

Is it my imagination, or do the days get shorter as we age? Life seems to be whizzing by and I can hardly remember what day it is. Someone once told me that life is like a toilet roll and goes slowly in the beginning, but that as it reaches towards the end, it speeds up. It certainly feels that way. The weeks and months are flying by. And where have all the years gone, suddenly? I still feel as though I should be walking my children to school through the park. Instead they are grown up and have left home, and four grandchildren have sprung up. Does anyone else feel the same, or is it just me? shock grin

Grantanow Tue 30-Jan-24 15:41:31

Perhaps they do if you get out of bed later!

Ilovecheese Tue 30-Jan-24 15:43:41

It's not just you Fairycakes

Whitewavemark2 Tue 30-Jan-24 15:50:36

It will be Christmas soonπŸ˜„πŸ˜„πŸ˜„πŸŽ„πŸŽ„

Gwyllt Tue 30-Jan-24 15:55:09

Give us a break can we at least have a quick glimpse of summer

Georgesgran Tue 30-Jan-24 15:56:41

I’m sure there’s a proven formula somewhere to do with the amount of time we have to live (sorry) that determines how we perceive time passing.

Sprouts on WW2?

Whitewavemark2 Tue 30-Jan-24 15:57:54

Yes!

HelterSkelter1 Tue 30-Jan-24 16:03:13

Yes I agree wholeheartedly. I get out of bed at crack of dawn and before I know it it's bedtime again.
A friend was talking about an event we both thought was about 5 years ago and it turned out to be 9.

I was 21 so recently or not. Seventy five very soon.

How to slow it down? It doesn't seem to make a difference if my day is busy or quiet. The only difference at the moment is it being January and grey and the days are short even though they are gradually lengthening especially on sunny days.

I advise anyone under 50 to make the most of every single day as it goes so fast and gathers speed. Why it does I don't know. I expect there is a scientific explanation.

Auntieflo Tue 30-Jan-24 16:22:43

It's not just the days that get shorter as we age. I have too πŸ€—.

Fairycakes Tue 30-Jan-24 16:32:44

Me too, Auntieflo. I've lost more than an inch hmm

Skydancer Tue 30-Jan-24 17:36:33

Totally agree with the OP. To make the days seem longer a friend of ours gets up earlier than he used to and goes to bed later. He says it works. I struggle with the getting up bit.

vampirequeen Tue 30-Jan-24 17:39:27

Time seems to speed up because we're having so much fun being retired. Time dragged when we were forced to be grown up at work, being parents, and doing all sorts of other grown up things we didn't want to d.

Greenfinch Tue 30-Jan-24 17:49:22

Love your comment Auntieflo. I’ve lost two inches and can no longer reach the things I need without hooking them out. I do agree though that time goes really quickly especially on days that are not really structured and I always seem to be chasing my tail!

M0nica Tue 30-Jan-24 18:16:29

The days don't getshorter, we just get slower so we cannpt do things as fast as we used to.

AgnesWilliams Tue 30-Jan-24 18:17:53

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Georgesgran Tue 30-Jan-24 18:29:59

Reported

fancythat Tue 30-Jan-24 18:38:45

Mine are getting longer, thankfully. I dont need quite as much sleep.

But I agree about the "where have all the years gone" bit.

Doodledog Tue 30-Jan-24 18:42:19

I think it's because when you are five, a year is a fifth of your life, whereas when you're fifty it is a fiftieth, which is a smaller unit, and that gathers pace as we get older.

keepcalmandcavachon Tue 30-Jan-24 20:01:49

Stephen King's Pretty Pony Time. It's a short story about time running away from you as you age. "Time is a pretty pony with a wicked heart". I found this story poignant years ago when I read it and it has stayed with me.

Deedaa Tue 30-Jan-24 20:06:06

The days don't seem to change, but the weekends come round quicker and quicker.

HelterSkelter1 Tue 30-Jan-24 20:10:17

I have got the answer life is a helter skelter you start off slow on your coconut mat and then you gather speed.

V3ra Tue 30-Jan-24 20:11:42

The days don't get shorter, we just get slower so we cannpt do things as fast as we used to.

Oh... is that why I often have to put "today's jobs" on to tomorrow's agenda?
Nothing to do with the time spent reading all the words of wisdom (and there are so many of them!) on Gransnet? πŸ˜‚

JackyB Tue 30-Jan-24 20:47:12

Actually, the days are getting longer by a tiny fraction of a second per year.

But I still agree that there are less hours in a day now and every job takes twice as long.

JackyB Tue 30-Jan-24 20:56:09

If anyone's interested, the days are getting longer by 1.7 milliseconds per century. I don't think this affects us very much though.

www.scientificamerican.com/article/earth-rotation-summer-solstice/

I have been trying getting up earlier as I noticed I was sleeping past 9 am, which really eats into the day. I can't find the oomph to get any of those things done in those early hours, though, which is discouraging . Some days I just fall back into bed after breakfast.

Fairycakes Tue 30-Jan-24 21:48:07

I feel like that every day, JackyB. I have to push myself to get going πŸ˜†. I feel livelier in the summer, though.