WEBVTT - Time Goes Fast. Here’s How to Actually Slow it Down 0:00:00.760 --> 0:00:04.160 We have removed almost every empty moment of our lives 0:00:04.700 --> 0:00:07.740 and filled it with something else. We are constantly trying 0:00:07.760 --> 0:00:10.740 to optimize every second of our day. We are constantly 0:00:10.800 --> 0:00:13.770 trying to fill every moment we have free with something 0:00:13.810 --> 0:00:16.450 more productive. You know, like when was the last time 0:00:16.510 --> 0:00:20.290 you just did one thing? We cook and watch YouTube. 0:00:20.350 --> 0:00:22.909 We're listening to podcasts. We're scrolling on our phones when 0:00:22.930 --> 0:00:25.290 we're supposed to be having lunch with family. Like we're 0:00:25.310 --> 0:00:29.360 constantly multitasking and it's actually killing us as well. Hello guys, 0:00:29.400 --> 0:00:31.530 welcome back to Stepping Up. I hope you're having an 0:00:31.590 --> 0:00:35.409 amazing day, whatever time you're listening to this. I realised 0:00:35.430 --> 0:00:37.790 the other day, I have like some weird fetishes. Okay, 0:00:38.390 --> 0:00:40.810 that's probably a weird way to open this YouTube, not YouTube, 0:00:41.130 --> 0:00:43.979 this podcast up with. I have like, I don't know 0:00:44.000 --> 0:00:46.500 if you guys do this, but I tend to like 0:00:46.940 --> 0:00:48.920 go online and I'll just fill up my shopping cart 0:00:48.960 --> 0:00:51.340 with all this random shit and then I never check out. 0:00:51.940 --> 0:00:54.230 But it makes me feel like I'm getting like the 0:00:54.270 --> 0:00:58.670 dopamine of actually buying the things. Anyway... I was sending 0:00:58.750 --> 0:01:01.710 some like random product links to my cousin, just showing 0:01:01.750 --> 0:01:03.790 her the stuff I like. And she made me realize, 0:01:03.810 --> 0:01:05.600 she's like, Steph, do you understand that you have a 0:01:05.880 --> 0:01:08.000 thing for salt and pepper shakers? And I was like, 0:01:08.020 --> 0:01:10.100 what do you mean? She's like, Steph, think about how 0:01:10.140 --> 0:01:11.680 many salt and pepper shakers you have at your house. 0:01:12.340 --> 0:01:14.800 And majority of them are empty. And I was like, 0:01:15.680 --> 0:01:17.610 you're right. Like I sent her this one, it was 0:01:17.620 --> 0:01:20.110 like this little prawn with this little like lemon wedge. 0:01:20.170 --> 0:01:21.170 And I was like, oh my God, it's so cute. 0:01:21.610 --> 0:01:22.990 But it's weird how we have like our own little 0:01:23.890 --> 0:01:26.250 things that we like. And it's the same with like, 0:01:26.290 --> 0:01:30.510 I'm obsessed with things like necklaces and also mugs. Like, 0:01:30.550 --> 0:01:31.990 I don't know. So if you, if you're ever going 0:01:32.010 --> 0:01:34.030 to buy me a present guys, just get me some 0:01:34.069 --> 0:01:36.160 salt and pepper shakers. I don't even know why I've 0:01:36.200 --> 0:01:39.380 told you this information. I'm a bit like delusional at 0:01:39.400 --> 0:01:43.119 this time of the year. Like I can't believe it's September, 0:01:43.459 --> 0:01:47.310 which is crazy. Um, but in saying that I'm about 0:01:47.350 --> 0:01:50.670 to ruin your perception of time and likely your day. 0:01:51.260 --> 0:01:53.620 but please hang in there with me and we'll still 0:01:53.660 --> 0:01:56.020 hopefully be friends at the end. Now just listen to these. 0:01:57.140 --> 0:02:01.140 The year 2000 was almost 27 years ago. The first 0:02:01.360 --> 0:02:05.430 iPhone came out more than 19 years ago. This one 0:02:05.450 --> 0:02:08.250 surprised me. YouTube is over 21 years old, but that 0:02:08.270 --> 0:02:10.370 also does make sense because that's how I learned how 0:02:10.389 --> 0:02:15.030 to do makeup. And Netflix has been streaming for 19 years. 0:02:15.180 --> 0:02:17.760 I still remember when Netflix was only for the US 0:02:18.100 --> 0:02:21.210 and somehow we managed to like hack the system for 0:02:21.230 --> 0:02:22.570 a little while and we got to have Netflix and 0:02:22.590 --> 0:02:26.250 I remember it being so amazing. But get this one. 0:02:26.389 --> 0:02:30.389 The Devil Wears Prada is 20 years old. That's just offensive. 0:02:31.389 --> 0:02:34.930 And even Mean Girls is 22 years old and Finding 0:02:34.990 --> 0:02:38.230 Nemo is 23 years old. This is the one that 0:02:38.250 --> 0:02:40.010 scared me though, I have to say, probably because I'm 0:02:40.030 --> 0:02:43.130 a mum. But Frozen came out almost 13 years ago. 0:02:43.150 --> 0:02:49.109 And COVID... being declared a pandemic was six and a 0:02:49.169 --> 0:02:55.010 half years ago. Now, I share all these terrifying, offensive 0:02:55.050 --> 0:02:58.560 facts with you because lately I realised I've become a 0:02:58.580 --> 0:03:04.180 broken record. I catch myself saying these things constantly, like, 0:03:04.860 --> 0:03:08.519 how are my kids this old? How is it already September? 0:03:09.220 --> 0:03:11.350 You know, where's the year gone? How is it already, 0:03:11.530 --> 0:03:15.930 you know, Friday? And I realize I'm saying these things 0:03:16.050 --> 0:03:19.770 while simultaneously trying to make almost every part of my 0:03:19.830 --> 0:03:24.250 actual life go faster. You know, I watch YouTube while 0:03:24.280 --> 0:03:28.960 I'm cooking. I am checking emails while I'm at the shops, 0:03:29.220 --> 0:03:33.320 at doing groceries. I even listen to podcasts on double 0:03:33.380 --> 0:03:37.740 speed and reels because, God forbid, people actually are allowed 0:03:37.780 --> 0:03:40.690 to talk at the normal pace that they do. We 0:03:40.770 --> 0:03:45.460 even scroll while we poop. Like, we'll literally watch TikTok 0:03:45.500 --> 0:03:48.620 while I eat my lunch. And of course, if you're 0:03:48.640 --> 0:03:50.730 folding washing, you do have to be listening to a 0:03:50.750 --> 0:03:54.150 podcast as well. You know, waiting for the kettle to boil, 0:03:54.250 --> 0:03:56.670 you're on your phone. Standing in line, you're on your phone. 0:03:57.090 --> 0:04:00.290 You know, I even realised I even brush my teeth 0:04:00.350 --> 0:04:02.290 in a rush. I'm in a hurry all the time. 0:04:03.650 --> 0:04:05.910 We've basically just taken all these tiny bits of our 0:04:05.990 --> 0:04:10.010 life and decided to fill them with more stuff. We 0:04:10.030 --> 0:04:13.500 try to optimise the shit out of our lives. And 0:04:13.520 --> 0:04:17.980 I'm obviously not anti-phone, like we know this. That's my job. But, 0:04:18.700 --> 0:04:21.539 you know, and I don't want you to stop listening 0:04:21.580 --> 0:04:24.200 to my podcast because we need you to do that. 0:04:24.339 --> 0:04:27.310 But I've realized I keep complaining about time going too 0:04:27.380 --> 0:04:30.150 fast while actively trying to make every part of my 0:04:30.190 --> 0:04:32.570 day go faster. Like, think about it. In the morning, 0:04:32.589 --> 0:04:34.570 you're like, I can't wait for bedtime. I can't wait 0:04:34.610 --> 0:04:37.710 for Friday. I can't wait for that holiday. We're constantly 0:04:37.750 --> 0:04:40.010 rushing through our lives, but then we're complaining about it 0:04:40.050 --> 0:04:43.030 at the same time. You know, think about world we 0:04:43.070 --> 0:04:45.190 live in right now. We want faster delivery. We want 0:04:45.250 --> 0:04:51.010 shorter videos, faster podcasts, quicker meals, hacks that save 10 minutes, 0:04:51.150 --> 0:04:53.300 and AI to do all our work for us, which look, 0:04:53.400 --> 0:04:56.600 we know I love AI, but it's kind of a 0:04:56.640 --> 0:04:59.980 sad realization. And then we get to the end of 0:05:00.100 --> 0:05:02.140 the month or the year thinking, where the hell did 0:05:02.200 --> 0:05:06.599 the time go? So naturally, I began to look into 0:05:06.640 --> 0:05:10.220 the concept of time and whether if time actually does 0:05:10.320 --> 0:05:14.380 feel faster as you get older. And what our brains 0:05:14.440 --> 0:05:17.540 are doing when a week just seems to disappear. Is 0:05:17.680 --> 0:05:20.420 there any science to it? How does our perception of 0:05:20.480 --> 0:05:26.010 time change with time? And to be honest with you, 0:05:26.240 --> 0:05:28.680 ever since I was a kid, I've always just felt 0:05:28.720 --> 0:05:30.400 like I was running out of time. I don't know 0:05:30.520 --> 0:05:32.919 if it's an anxiety thing, but you don't have to 0:05:32.960 --> 0:05:36.480 be stress head Steph to also feel the effects of this. 0:05:36.600 --> 0:05:39.300 So This episode is for you if you do feel 0:05:39.339 --> 0:05:42.020 like your life is just going too fast, like the 0:05:42.040 --> 0:05:43.800 world just spins too fast for you and you can't 0:05:43.820 --> 0:05:47.670 keep up and you feel yourself rushing through life and 0:05:47.830 --> 0:05:50.370 it's almost like you're on autopilot and you don't ever 0:05:50.390 --> 0:05:52.830 really kind of stop for a second and think, like, 0:05:53.370 --> 0:05:56.610 what did I even do today? And if you want 0:05:56.650 --> 0:05:59.350 to learn to be more present but people just telling 0:05:59.370 --> 0:06:02.169 you to be present just doesn't cut it for you. 0:06:02.870 --> 0:06:04.390 So by the end of this episode, you will learn 0:06:04.440 --> 0:06:07.719 the science behind of what makes time feel not only faster, 0:06:07.760 --> 0:06:10.000 but makes everything feel like a big blur or a 0:06:10.020 --> 0:06:12.299 big chunk of time, like everything just kind of blurs 0:06:12.339 --> 0:06:14.940 into one. And I'm not going to sit here and 0:06:14.980 --> 0:06:18.159 promise you that suddenly you can make a Tuesday afternoon 0:06:18.220 --> 0:06:20.600 feel like it went for 31 hours, but I will 0:06:20.640 --> 0:06:23.740 share how to make more moments of our lives feel 0:06:23.779 --> 0:06:26.840 like we actually lived them, that we were actually there 0:06:26.880 --> 0:06:32.210 for them. So before I tell you if time actually 0:06:32.230 --> 0:06:33.930 does speed up as we get older, I'm going to 0:06:33.970 --> 0:06:38.330 tell you my little theory that I've always had. Now, 0:06:38.390 --> 0:06:41.950 for me, I believe that thinking back when we were kids, 0:06:43.130 --> 0:06:46.020 I feel like as children, we are the most present 0:06:46.140 --> 0:06:49.100 that we will probably ever be because you're not thinking 0:06:49.300 --> 0:06:53.339 constantly in the future. We're not thinking that bill needs 0:06:53.360 --> 0:06:56.039 to be paid then. We're not thinking like, what will 0:06:56.060 --> 0:06:58.710 I have for dinner? I can't wait for the holiday. 0:06:58.790 --> 0:07:01.070 All those things I said before. We're just in the moment. 0:07:01.110 --> 0:07:05.500 We're just living moment by moment. We're not constantly like 0:07:05.750 --> 0:07:08.190 living our life through a to-do list you know then 0:07:08.250 --> 0:07:11.010 as adults we only live in the future or we 0:07:11.050 --> 0:07:13.650 reminisce about the past we're never just living in the 0:07:13.690 --> 0:07:16.790 present moment we're always someplace else even if our body's 0:07:16.830 --> 0:07:19.870 physically here it's rare that our brains are also in 0:07:19.890 --> 0:07:23.110 the present moment all right now for the facts did 0:07:23.130 --> 0:07:25.440 you know when you're five years old one year is 0:07:25.440 --> 0:07:28.420 20 of your life whereas when you're 40 it's only 0:07:28.420 --> 0:07:33.900 2.5 so every year feels shorter which is a great theory, 0:07:34.260 --> 0:07:37.740 but it's not the complete explanation of what scientists have 0:07:37.800 --> 0:07:42.200 actually found. Now, there was a study involving nearly 2,000 0:07:42.200 --> 0:07:45.240 people from 16 to 80 years old, and researchers asked 0:07:45.260 --> 0:07:49.520 them how quickly time seemed to pass over different periods. Interestingly, 0:07:49.920 --> 0:07:55.380 basically everybody thought time passed quickly. The differences between ages 0:07:55.420 --> 0:07:58.560 were actually quite small, except when people looked back over 0:07:58.620 --> 0:08:01.640 something much longer and like the previous 10 years, where 0:08:01.700 --> 0:08:04.160 older people were more likely to say it had flown. 0:08:05.000 --> 0:08:09.020 So it's not necessarily that a 35-year Wednesday literally feels 0:08:09.100 --> 0:08:12.560 dramatically faster than it did at 15. It's often that 0:08:12.580 --> 0:08:14.580 when you turn around and look back at that time, 0:08:15.040 --> 0:08:17.260 you go, where the hell did those five years go? 0:08:18.040 --> 0:08:21.260 And that distinction becomes really important because scientists basically talk 0:08:21.300 --> 0:08:24.980 about two different ways in which we experience time, which 0:08:25.140 --> 0:08:27.460 I never even thought of this. This was quite interesting 0:08:27.500 --> 0:08:30.930 to me. So The two different versions of time is 0:08:31.010 --> 0:08:33.930 there's time while you're actually living it and then there's 0:08:33.970 --> 0:08:37.650 the time when you remember it afterwards. And these can 0:08:37.690 --> 0:08:40.030 do completely opposite things. So I want you to think 0:08:40.090 --> 0:08:42.750 about you're waiting to see the doctor and you've been 0:08:42.770 --> 0:08:46.260 waiting there for 40 minutes. Six months later, how much 0:08:46.280 --> 0:08:49.060 of that 40 minutes do you remember? Nothing. But then 0:08:49.100 --> 0:08:51.479 compare that with a weekend away where you're doing new things, 0:08:51.559 --> 0:08:54.300 eating somewhere you've never been before and seeing different people 0:08:54.860 --> 0:08:57.800 and you're completely engaged. In that moment, you go, oh 0:08:57.820 --> 0:08:59.980 my God, that went so quickly. But when you look 0:09:00.040 --> 0:09:02.450 back on that weekend, there were heaps of memories in it. 0:09:03.059 --> 0:09:05.660 And that's one of the paradoxes of time perception is 0:09:05.800 --> 0:09:08.530 an experience can fly while you're living in it, but 0:09:08.590 --> 0:09:11.050 feel much bigger when you look back on it. So 0:09:11.090 --> 0:09:15.709 research distinguishes between prospective time, how time feels as it's happening, 0:09:16.130 --> 0:09:19.929 and retrospective time, where our judgment depends much more heavily 0:09:19.990 --> 0:09:22.960 on memory. So the thing is, research has found that 0:09:23.740 --> 0:09:26.660 if you're Like you could live the same 24 hours, 0:09:26.960 --> 0:09:29.839 but if you're filling that 24 hours with new experiences 0:09:29.900 --> 0:09:32.120 and trying new things, that's going to feel like a 0:09:32.179 --> 0:09:36.280 longer day versus your normal routine. Think about it, you know, 0:09:36.400 --> 0:09:39.550 living Monday to Friday. If your routine's the exact same 0:09:40.110 --> 0:09:42.449 and there's nothing that differs each day, you're going to 0:09:42.470 --> 0:09:44.350 look back over a span of a few years and 0:09:44.370 --> 0:09:46.770 it all blurs together as a chunk. But if you're 0:09:46.809 --> 0:09:49.620 trying new things, even if it's like going out and 0:09:49.660 --> 0:09:52.780 trying a new restaurant midweek, it's going to break up 0:09:52.800 --> 0:09:55.850 the time for you and your brain. And research on 0:09:55.890 --> 0:09:58.250 real life memories have found that when people can recall 0:09:58.270 --> 0:10:01.260 a greater density of moments from an experience, so again, 0:10:01.520 --> 0:10:04.660 different variety and things, they tend to remember that experience 0:10:04.700 --> 0:10:07.460 as having lasted longer. So it's having that novelty and 0:10:07.520 --> 0:10:11.200 trying new things. And that's fascinating because suddenly, how do 0:10:11.240 --> 0:10:13.740 I slow down my life becomes a slightly different question. 0:10:14.179 --> 0:10:15.800 So the thing is, it's like, how do we do this? 0:10:16.380 --> 0:10:21.359 And when you think back to childhood, again, you're doing 0:10:21.400 --> 0:10:23.780 all these new things. Your first day of school, your 0:10:23.800 --> 0:10:26.340 first sleepover, the first time you caught a bus alone, 0:10:26.460 --> 0:10:30.220 your first concert. These are just landmarks everywhere. These new 0:10:30.300 --> 0:10:33.080 experiences that you've never felt before. So it feels like 0:10:33.120 --> 0:10:35.260 a lot more variety. So therefore, it does feel like 0:10:35.320 --> 0:10:38.420 a longer period of time. But adult life, as I said, 0:10:38.450 --> 0:10:41.710 it can become the same. It's like Groundhog Day. Isn't 0:10:41.730 --> 0:10:43.730 there that movie with, is it Tom Hanks? God, I 0:10:43.770 --> 0:10:46.079 can't remember. But There was some movie and it was 0:10:46.100 --> 0:10:48.220 like a groundhog day and it actually drove me insane. 0:10:48.240 --> 0:10:50.719 I couldn't watch it all. But there's the same thing. 0:10:50.740 --> 0:10:53.920 There's the school run, there's washing, there's dishes, and it's 0:10:53.940 --> 0:10:57.400 just like a copy paste of each day. And that's 0:10:57.420 --> 0:11:01.120 why routine is an explanation of why these long periods 0:11:01.140 --> 0:11:03.760 of time just feel compressed when we look back. But 0:11:03.800 --> 0:11:05.320 we also want to be careful here. And we're not 0:11:05.380 --> 0:11:13.160 saying like, let's try new things every day. We're The 0:11:13.880 --> 0:11:17.520 newest research lately has said that novelty isn't some magical 0:11:17.580 --> 0:11:21.490 cheat sheet for doubling your perceived lifespan, like for how 0:11:21.520 --> 0:11:25.070 long time feels to have gone for. A review found 0:11:25.110 --> 0:11:27.550 that why periods of life feels fast is probably a 0:11:27.570 --> 0:11:34.000 mix of memory, attention, routine, meaning, growth, expectations, and time pressure. 0:11:34.960 --> 0:11:38.720 There's even a newer study from 2006 looking at adults 0:11:38.800 --> 0:11:42.590 from 20 to 91, which found that faster perceived passage 0:11:42.690 --> 0:11:46.050 of the previous decade was more closely associated with people's 0:11:46.090 --> 0:11:50.630 ability to encode new information than simply how many memories 0:11:50.670 --> 0:11:54.949 they could retrieve. So like learning new things. I know 0:11:54.990 --> 0:11:57.350 when I'm learning, I'm always the happiest I am when 0:11:57.390 --> 0:11:59.470 I'm learning things. I think back at school, and that 0:11:59.590 --> 0:12:01.350 also is probably why it feels like it went for 0:12:01.390 --> 0:12:03.410 so long, even though I remember coming home from school 0:12:03.429 --> 0:12:06.550 and being like, I don't remember learning anything today. But 0:12:06.670 --> 0:12:08.790 that's where I started thinking about something we're doing now 0:12:08.830 --> 0:12:12.270 that our brains have never really had to deal with before. Now, 0:12:12.530 --> 0:12:15.530 I want to also flag that the way in which 0:12:15.570 --> 0:12:17.870 we live our life now versus when we were younger 0:12:17.890 --> 0:12:21.270 is It's very, very different. And it's the first time 0:12:21.290 --> 0:12:25.690 in history that we are constantly trying to optimize every 0:12:25.770 --> 0:12:28.390 second of our day. We are constantly trying to fill 0:12:29.190 --> 0:12:33.030 every moment we have free with something more productive. We 0:12:33.070 --> 0:12:36.940 have removed almost every empty moment of our lives and 0:12:36.980 --> 0:12:39.839 filled it with something else. You know, like when was 0:12:39.860 --> 0:12:43.420 the last time you just did one thing? As I said, 0:12:43.960 --> 0:12:47.340 we cook and watch YouTube. We're listening to podcasts. We're 0:12:47.760 --> 0:12:49.339 we're scrolling on our phones when we're supposed to be 0:12:49.360 --> 0:12:53.370 having lunch with family. We're constantly multitasking and it's actually 0:12:53.420 --> 0:12:56.270 killing us as well. And that's the thing is because 0:12:56.309 --> 0:12:59.990 we are using phones so much, our memory and attention 0:13:00.070 --> 0:13:03.810 are just competing constantly. We are always just filling our 0:13:03.870 --> 0:13:08.170 minds up with so many things. And why do we 0:13:08.230 --> 0:13:12.189 suddenly decide we need to consume life at double speed? 0:13:12.290 --> 0:13:15.360 Watching reels, watching YouTube videos, everything is just going so 0:13:15.380 --> 0:13:20.000 much faster. And I do it too. I'm constantly doing it. 0:13:20.070 --> 0:13:24.250 Even now with voice notes, instead of listening to them through, 0:13:24.270 --> 0:13:27.630 I will read the transcript. I'll actually skim read the transcript. 0:13:28.280 --> 0:13:30.179 And it's like, we're just in such a hurry. We're 0:13:30.200 --> 0:13:32.199 in such a rush in our lives right now. And 0:13:33.000 --> 0:13:35.280 it's like, what am I racing towards? What I save 0:13:35.360 --> 0:13:38.079 for three minutes? It's like when you're driving and there's 0:13:38.120 --> 0:13:41.810 those stupid idiot drivers and they speed and they overtake 0:13:41.870 --> 0:13:44.530 you and they nearly bloody cause an accident and then 0:13:44.570 --> 0:13:46.309 you both get to the same traffic light and you're 0:13:46.330 --> 0:13:48.250 just kind of like you're just like yeah sucked in 0:13:50.350 --> 0:13:52.630 and the thing is too like even with us consuming 0:13:52.670 --> 0:13:55.150 all these things at double speed like they've even proven 0:13:55.190 --> 0:13:59.890 that yes you can learn faster but our satisfaction levels 0:13:59.990 --> 0:14:02.490 at watching it that fast go down like think about 0:14:02.530 --> 0:14:04.610 if you were trying to watch a movie and they 0:14:04.650 --> 0:14:06.790 had it on double speed that's not going to be 0:14:06.830 --> 0:14:10.689 very enjoyable like what is all this optimization doing to 0:14:10.790 --> 0:14:13.820 our experience that is our human life you know, we 0:14:13.860 --> 0:14:16.400 catch ourselves all saying we all need more time. We 0:14:16.420 --> 0:14:18.900 need more than 24 hours in a day. But then 0:14:18.980 --> 0:14:21.080 at the same time, we keep treating time like it's 0:14:21.120 --> 0:14:23.460 something to get through. Like we treat our lives like 0:14:23.480 --> 0:14:25.730 it's something to survive half the time. And I'm very 0:14:25.760 --> 0:14:28.210 guilty of this. And then you think back to all 0:14:28.250 --> 0:14:30.210 these things I've just said, and then you wonder why 0:14:30.250 --> 0:14:33.750 we struggle to feel present. And feeling present is a 0:14:33.790 --> 0:14:36.130 whole other thing. You know, I am someone, I have 0:14:36.170 --> 0:14:39.290 a busy mind. And when people tell me just to 0:14:39.330 --> 0:14:42.920 like take a breath and meditate and things like that. 0:14:43.280 --> 0:14:45.340 I'm all for meditation and things, but that took me 0:14:45.360 --> 0:14:48.420 a long time. But it's not as easy as just 0:14:48.440 --> 0:14:52.020 be present. How do you actually do that? So after 0:14:52.090 --> 0:14:55.190 all this information and offensive facts, how do we actually 0:14:55.290 --> 0:14:58.050 slow it down and can we do that? There's a 0:14:58.130 --> 0:15:01.370 few different things we can do that is scientifically proven, 0:15:01.410 --> 0:15:04.820 but also a way to help our memory and attention 0:15:04.840 --> 0:15:07.680 not be competing with each other. So number one is 0:15:07.740 --> 0:15:11.220 stop trying to optimize every part of your day. And 0:15:11.240 --> 0:15:14.020 I say this with the planners, leave white space in 0:15:14.040 --> 0:15:19.020 your planner. Leave space. I'm not saying go on a 0:15:19.040 --> 0:15:21.980 phone detox or anything like that, but just let one 0:15:22.140 --> 0:15:25.090 ordinary part of your day be ordinary. Whether that's going 0:15:25.120 --> 0:15:28.550 for a walk without listening to anything. And I'm all for, 0:15:28.610 --> 0:15:32.370 I call them life admin walks, where things I've been avoiding, 0:15:32.490 --> 0:15:33.990 I will do it on a walk. And that's just 0:15:34.030 --> 0:15:37.230 more of a little hack for myself to get things done. 0:15:37.310 --> 0:15:39.020 But the thing is, we don't need to be layering 0:15:39.140 --> 0:15:41.280 all these different things on top of each other. Like 0:15:41.340 --> 0:15:45.780 just let 10 minutes be 10 minutes. And you'll notice 0:15:45.840 --> 0:15:48.800 how uncomfortable it feels at first because we are sadly 0:15:48.840 --> 0:15:52.350 so used to being seeking that dopamine and being constantly 0:15:52.590 --> 0:15:55.750 distracted and entertained. But we spend so much of our 0:15:55.790 --> 0:15:57.870 lives trying to save time that I think we forget 0:15:57.910 --> 0:16:00.690 the whole point is to have more of it to 0:16:00.810 --> 0:16:05.630 actually live. So instead of consuming things, just be like, 0:16:06.130 --> 0:16:08.570 if you can just pick a couple of things, let 0:16:08.610 --> 0:16:11.260 it be this. go to the toilet without your phone. 0:16:11.740 --> 0:16:13.260 And I actually did this on the health retreat I 0:16:13.280 --> 0:16:16.970 went on. There was no internet. And I finally realized, yeah, 0:16:17.000 --> 0:16:18.770 that I'm like, why do I go on my phone 0:16:18.790 --> 0:16:21.210 when I'm on the toilet? We're pooping. Why do we 0:16:21.230 --> 0:16:24.530 need a scroll? So on your toilet, put your phone away. 0:16:24.990 --> 0:16:27.650 When you're eating is another one. And of course, this 0:16:28.110 --> 0:16:31.650 is obvious, but even as parents, which I'll get to 0:16:31.690 --> 0:16:34.360 in a minute, but When you're with people, just put 0:16:34.380 --> 0:16:36.480 your phone away. Even like I love to be able 0:16:36.500 --> 0:16:38.210 to put my phone in a drawer, having that physical 0:16:38.260 --> 0:16:40.710 barrier really, really helps my brain kind of switch off. 0:16:41.310 --> 0:16:43.230 Another thing you can do is put your podcast back 0:16:43.270 --> 0:16:46.130 to normal speed. I already talk fast enough as it is. 0:16:46.210 --> 0:16:48.890 So put everything back on normal speed and just enjoy 0:16:48.990 --> 0:16:52.550 the actual experience without having to try and rush through it. Now, 0:16:52.610 --> 0:16:54.390 this has got to do with, I guess, that novelty 0:16:54.430 --> 0:16:56.630 thing we were talking about before, but number two is 0:16:57.110 --> 0:17:01.609 give your week memory markers. Now, It's all well and 0:17:01.630 --> 0:17:02.970 good for me to say, okay, guys, you need to 0:17:03.010 --> 0:17:05.910 do a new experience every week to make time feel 0:17:05.930 --> 0:17:09.510 like it's slowed down. But we're busy and there's enough 0:17:09.530 --> 0:17:11.950 things going on. And I'm not telling you just to 0:17:12.410 --> 0:17:15.210 go fly to Bali and travel the world. But even 0:17:15.410 --> 0:17:18.900 if it's literally having dinner at the beach after work 0:17:19.020 --> 0:17:23.300 one day, maybe it's trying a different dinner. Even honestly, 0:17:23.359 --> 0:17:25.699 for me, I could just make a new playlist to 0:17:25.740 --> 0:17:28.480 listen to. Just anything that makes things feel a bit different. 0:17:28.980 --> 0:17:31.169 Even as a kid and you'd rearrange your bedroom and 0:17:31.190 --> 0:17:33.290 you're like, fuck yeah, new year, new me, new bedroom, 0:17:33.330 --> 0:17:35.889 and you'd feel like a whole new person. Just change 0:17:35.970 --> 0:17:38.430 something about your environment even just to make it feel 0:17:38.470 --> 0:17:41.970 a bit different. When every single day just looks identical, 0:17:42.119 --> 0:17:45.620 it's so easy just to keep living through life on autopilot. 0:17:45.660 --> 0:17:47.960 So try and do something a couple of times in 0:17:47.980 --> 0:17:51.430 the week that is like a memory marker. And you 0:17:51.470 --> 0:17:54.290 see this whole thing online about, you know, don't rot 0:17:54.609 --> 0:17:56.850 after you're nine to five. It's that kind of idea. 0:17:57.590 --> 0:18:00.070 You know, some other ideas is eat dinner outside or 0:18:00.290 --> 0:18:03.270 go somewhere you've never been, like 20 minutes from home 0:18:04.010 --> 0:18:08.310 on the weekend. Take a different walking track. You know, 0:18:08.369 --> 0:18:10.650 move your coffee from the kitchen bench to the beach. Like, 0:18:10.850 --> 0:18:14.629 go do something else. So I'm not saying do more. 0:18:14.950 --> 0:18:17.990 I'm just saying do different. And it can be so subtle. 0:18:18.970 --> 0:18:21.950 The next thing is stop multitasking the moments you actually 0:18:21.970 --> 0:18:24.889 care about. So this does come down to, you know, 0:18:24.910 --> 0:18:28.619 like I'm not going to say you have to, you know, 0:18:28.660 --> 0:18:31.580 be present while you're cleaning the toilet. I'm not saying that. 0:18:31.980 --> 0:18:34.580 But when you're with, you know, for me, I'm so 0:18:34.619 --> 0:18:37.639 guilty of this, I'll be with my girls and mentally 0:18:37.680 --> 0:18:41.310 I'm somewhere else or I'll be checking emails. So, and 0:18:41.330 --> 0:18:42.889 I'm not saying we're all going to be perfect all 0:18:42.910 --> 0:18:45.649 the time, but where you can and where you notice it, 0:18:46.109 --> 0:18:48.790 just be where your feet are, be where your kids are, 0:18:48.890 --> 0:18:51.370 because those are the times that we will look back 0:18:51.430 --> 0:18:53.590 on and be like, damn it, I really wish I 0:18:53.609 --> 0:18:56.630 didn't try to optimize that time as well. Because our kids, 0:18:56.690 --> 0:18:59.250 and what's what breaks my heart is, I never want 0:18:59.290 --> 0:19:01.250 my kids to remember me just looking down at my 0:19:01.290 --> 0:19:04.790 phone and not looking at them. The next thing is, 0:19:04.810 --> 0:19:08.450 and this is a big one, is notice what made 0:19:08.770 --> 0:19:11.730 today different. If you can just focus on one little 0:19:11.850 --> 0:19:16.159 different item or aspect about each day, having that reflection, 0:19:16.180 --> 0:19:18.449 it's going to make each day feel more different, which 0:19:18.490 --> 0:19:21.610 we know is what makes it feel slower. So even 0:19:21.650 --> 0:19:24.230 at night, just one sentence, just write one sentence of 0:19:24.290 --> 0:19:28.730 what made today different for you. What happened today that 0:19:29.710 --> 0:19:33.020 was different from yesterday? For me, it could be Riley 0:19:33.180 --> 0:19:36.960 went nuts at the vacuum today. And genuinely, guys, and 0:19:36.980 --> 0:19:40.220 I'm saying this from experience, when I journal, and I 0:19:40.260 --> 0:19:42.489 have had time of journaling on and off, but When 0:19:42.550 --> 0:19:45.880 I journal, time does feel so much slower. I feel 0:19:45.900 --> 0:19:47.720 like I'm more present in my life because I'm actually 0:19:47.790 --> 0:19:51.840 taking notice again. I'm not just living. for the next thing, 0:19:51.880 --> 0:19:54.379 for the next thing. Because when you think about it, 0:19:54.500 --> 0:19:57.719 because if our retrospective sense of time is partly constructed 0:19:57.820 --> 0:20:01.100 from what we can retrieve with our memory, it makes 0:20:01.160 --> 0:20:04.100 sense to actually notice what happened each day. Now, the 0:20:04.119 --> 0:20:06.880 last thing that you can do to make time feel 0:20:06.920 --> 0:20:09.689 slower and be more present is Practice being where your 0:20:09.710 --> 0:20:13.060 body is. When's the last time, you know, say you 0:20:13.080 --> 0:20:15.980 were washing the dishes or, you know, you're out for 0:20:16.000 --> 0:20:19.100 a walk where you actually took notice of, you know, 0:20:19.300 --> 0:20:21.780 the wind on your skin or if you're washing the dishes, 0:20:21.840 --> 0:20:25.330 like the water on your hands. What can you smell? 0:20:25.350 --> 0:20:29.850 You know, what can you see? Actually being like where 0:20:29.910 --> 0:20:33.770 your feet are. And that is honestly one of the 0:20:33.810 --> 0:20:36.490 best mindfulness exercises you can do. It's not all about 0:20:36.550 --> 0:20:39.470 meditation and journaling and breath work. It is just about 0:20:39.530 --> 0:20:41.810 being where your body is. Even if you can do 0:20:41.850 --> 0:20:43.869 this a couple of times a day, if you have 0:20:43.890 --> 0:20:47.730 to set an alarm, do that. But you don't need 0:20:47.810 --> 0:20:50.590 meditation to make your life feel longer. You just need 0:20:50.630 --> 0:20:52.730 to be where your feet are. So if you can 0:20:52.760 --> 0:20:55.300 do one takeaway from this episode, because I know there 0:20:55.320 --> 0:20:57.720 was a lot of tips then, but I want you 0:20:57.740 --> 0:21:00.719 to pick one part of your day that that you 0:21:00.760 --> 0:21:03.240