Have you been able to slow down time?

[Focus]

It appears to be a universal truth that time goes by much faster as we get older. I certainly feel it. The days, months, years are flying by.

Some of us looking forward to retirement actually welcome this, since it gets us to our goal more quickly. However, underlying this is an assumption that we’ll be able to make time slow down again once we retire.

Those of you who are already retired, what’s been your experience?

[SarahW]

To me it seems like time is flying faster than ever. I don't seem to know where the days go.

[ziggy29]

It makes sense if you think about it. When you are 50, one year represents only 2% of your life and your experiences, whereas when you are 20, a year represents 5% of it. In that sense, I can easily see why time seems to go faster as you age.

[antmary]

When I am engaged in something I love, it seems that I can experience more of a "here and now-ness" than when on automatic pilot. As I get older, the challenge is to stay here now. When I get lost in my thoughts, I am, in reality, entertaining myself with an illusion. That's when time flies out the window.

Children seem to be fully present. It seems that the challenge for me is to retain that sense of fun and adventure while drawing on any wisdom from previous years.

[Bimmerbill]

Must be that we are getting jaded. For a kid, its all new, all the time. For me, going to work over and over again isn't new at all. I guess I am not fully present there. That lost time makes things appear to be going faster.

[DeborahB]

I hope that time slows down a bit when I retire! Soon... this summer. I'm totally disengaged with work now - a friend calls it "retiring in place". Because - they can't do anything to me. I could walk out right now, and manage financially. I plan to wait until I'm 62 for the SS money.

[happy2bretired]

I'm slowing down...doing everything at my own slow pace. BUT, time is really flying by. The day is always half done before I'm even dressed and out and about.

[DeborahB]

I think it's that you have the time to do things like read the whole newspaper or clean up or whatever - so you do - and when you work you don't even try. There's no time. That seems to be what fills up time for my retired friends.

[flyfishnevada]

Quote:

Originally Posted by antmary When I am engaged in something I love, it seems that I can experience more of a "here and now-ness" than when on automatic pilot. As I get older, the challenge is to stay here now. When I get lost in my thoughts, I am, in reality, entertaining myself with an illusion. That's when time flies out the window.

I agree, when I am busy with something I love I lose sense of time. I couldn't tell you if it went by slowly or not. I was in the now. When I am bored, or just zoning out, it seems to go slow, but I have no specific memory of it. In retrospect, the busy time provides specific memories, but the idle times just blur together. It really is an illusion.

[youbet]

I'm approaching four years of FIRE. It's gone by sooooo fast, it borders on frightening. I think hunkering down and cutting back on travel and activities due to the recession may have something to do with it. Our memories of relatively short trips we took early in FIRE are more vivid and pleasant than memories of what we've done over the past year.

We're throwing in the towel on recession based frugality. We've ordered a modest camper, new tires for the truck and some new doo-dads for the kayaks and will be hitting the road this spring. Sitting here watching the clock spin around is about to end.

It's more important to be diligent in how you spend your time than your money.

[Alan]

If you believe this article, then you can understand why time appears to pass more slowly when you are younger (brain is healthier and quicker) and that you can slow down the perception of time passing by so quickly by keeping the brain healthy. When I was 18 shortly after I left High School I had a job driving a bread and confectionery van around streets and business selling and delivering. I crashed the van one day while swatting at a yellow jacket and I still remember how time appeared to slow right down. As the van mounted the sidewalk I looked up and saw a concrete lamppost dead ahead. Swinging the wheel hard over I struck the lamppost a glancing blow. As I looked across I saw, in slow motion, the door mirror turn inwards, and the glass shatter and fall. As the van lurch I looked behind me and could see the air full of cakes and bread tumbling slowly in space.

It was one of the most amazing experiences in my life, so I can certainly relate to the findings in this article.

Matrix Psychology: Time slows down when the brain speeds up

Quote:

In times of crisis, time slows down. Just before a person dies their whole life flashes before them. In a car crash, it can appear as though everything happens in slow motion. The champion tennis player throws a ball in the air preparing to serve. The hitter in baseball prepares his stroke seemingly before the ball has left the throwers hand. . . Time slows down when the brain speeds up. How we feel time, depends on the speed of our thinking. The faster the brain is working, the slower time passes. When a person is engrossed by a hobby, time goes slowly. . . . For the record: Some older people have far better brains than many young people. Older people often have a healthier, more balanced outlook on life and their experience gives them a more efficient kit.

[donheff]

Time flys. We will never recapture the endless summers of our childhood. But its all good.

[W2R]

Time hasn't slowed down at all so far in my retirement. If anything, it passes more quickly.

The big difference is that in retirement I am getting complete and total satisfaction from my time, even if it goes by at the speed of life. There was never the time for that before retirement.

[aldo]

Time flies like an arrow
Fruit flies like a banana
Groucho
(I came out of lurking for that?)

[freebird5825]

I'm coming up on 3 years of FIRE in early April, the 1st to be exact.
Some days are tortoises, some days are hares.
It all depends on what I have going on that day. I try to mix it up - "out and about" errands/socializing days contrasted with "hanging out and vegging at home" in my little castle.
Variety is the spice of life and all that jazz.

[W2R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by freebird5825 I'm coming up on 3 years of FIRE in early April, the 1st to be exact. Some days are tortoises, some days are hares. It all depends on what I have going on that day. I try to mix it up - "out and about" errands/socializing days contrasted with "hanging out and vegging at home" in my little castle.

Which go by more slowly? Inquiring minds want to know...

Quote:

Originally Posted by freebird5825 Variety is the spice of life and all that jazz.

That it is.

[Bikerdude]

Quote:

Originally Posted by freebird5825 Some days are tortoises, some days are hares. It all depends on what I have going on that day. I try to mix it up - "out and about" errands/socializing days contrasted with "hanging out and vegging at home" in my little castle. Variety is the spice of life and all that jazz.

I agree with this. Once you are retired you have to avoid "Groundhog day" by mixing up your routine. Its not as easy as it would seem though. We are creatures of habit.

[freebird5825]

Quote:

Originally Posted by W2R Which go by more slowly? Inquiring minds want to know...

Speed of time passage and activities in/out of the house have zero correlation, believe it or not.
Some days at home fly by because I am doing one mini project right after the other. Other days crawl if I'm just vegging on the 'puter or tooling around in the garden or mowing the lawn. La de da...
Same for days out of the house. If I have my list of ToDo errands all set up, it goes quickly. If I'm just cruising around in the Stang or hanging at the lake, time goes slowly.
How's that for an ambiguous answer?

[W2R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by freebird5825 Speed of time passage and activities in/out of the house have zero correlation, believe it or not. Some days at home fly by because I am doing one mini project right after the other. Other days crawl if I'm just vegging on the 'puter or tooling around in the garden or mowing the lawn. La de da... Same for days out of the house. If I have my list of ToDo errands all set up, it goes quickly. If I'm just cruising around in the Stang or hanging at the lake, time goes slowly. How's that for an ambiguous answer?

Sounds good to me! Thanks for elaborating.

[ksr]

Time seems to move SO much faster since retirement. When I was still at megacorp, I was practically watching the minutes pass every day. Like looking at my watch (or computer clock) and seeing that only 15 minutes have passed since the last time I looked. It was almost that bad in the last few years. Now, into my third year of RE, time is moving so fast I don't know where the days go. Especially when the weather is nice!