We do the same things over and over--wake up, drive to work, work, drive home, eat, sleep. Our brains don't put any of that into long term storage. Have you ever turned the corner onto your street on your way home from work, and realized you can't remember anything about the drive? Only, newish, novel events get stored robustly. So, in retrospect it seems like the past year flew by, time is compressed in the long stretches of sameness, and only the differences stand out.