Why do we feel like time flies on vacation?

You have the impression that New Year's Eve goes back to the day before when we are already in August.

A feeling that many share without really understanding why time passes so quickly.

Marie Sebbag, neuropsychologist, explains the phenomenon to us.

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A routine question

No, summer hasn't gone by too quickly, even if that's the feeling you have.

Time is an immutable datum, it is our relationship with it that evolves according to the context in which we find ourselves.

“This feeling that time is accelerating with the years is linked to the fact that we live automatically.

When we are in a routine, a context that is familiar to us, the brain activates networks that it knows, which requires less energy”, explains Marie Sebbag, neuropsychologist.

Certain areas of the brain are involved in our perception of time, but we seek less attention when the action is familiar.

This is why people with a repetitive daily life have the feeling that time passes very quickly without really seeing the days go by.

When we break the routine, on the contrary, we have the impression that time is getting longer.

"This is due to the fact that the brain records new data and it takes longer to process and store the information," says the professional.

Which explains why children always have the impression that time is stretching out.

“When you're small, any task is unknown and it requires new neural circuits.

The more we grow, the less there is novelty in our life and this is what gives the impression that time is accelerating”, specifies the neuropsychologist.

The mindset involved

The perception of temporal space is also correlated to the state of mind as well as to the activities that one carries out.

It all depends on the emotional charge that one puts into the task in question.

“When you're comfortable, you use fewer energy resources.

It's more automatic for us and the brain areas concerned work more fluidly,” says Marie Sebbag.

This is why, when we do an activity that we enjoy, the moment seems to pass more quickly.

“The perception of time involves short and long term memory.

We compare the moment we are living with a more distant one.

And this confrontation makes us aware of what we are doing”, informs Marie Sebbag.

Which gives the impression of a time that is getting longer.

Whereas when we do not pay attention to the temporal space, the latter seems to us to pass more quickly.

That said, according to the professional, "it is important and healthy to perceive the time that passes quickly because it means that we are doing things adapted to our functioning and within our reach".

We just have to manage to find a balance between our comfort zone and renewal.