Too much free time makes us unhappy

A study conducted by Marissa Sharif from 美国宾夕法尼亚大学 - 沃顿商学院 , together with Cassie Mogilner, and Hal Hershfield from 美国加州大学洛杉矶分校 show that while too little free time causes stress and reduces our wellbeing, so does a situation when we have too much free time on our hands every day.

What's the golden ratio?

Based on a nationally representative sample of 35,375 Americans, the researchers found that having 2 hours of free time that we spend in a way we want (yes, this includes watching some tv series with your feet high up!) is related with the highest wellbeing. This wellbeing starts to drop if we exceed 5 hours of free time per day.

Does it mean we should work 70 hours a week?

Absolutely not! :) There are two other practical implications from this research:

1. Make sure to save some 2 hours daily for leisure time. Let go and just feel good about being lazy :) For most of the week, I have this time between 8 and 10 pm. Time to watch some series, read a book, or cook something delish :)
2. Engage in some productive activities in your free time. Weekends are great for a trip, or meeting with friends, or learning something new, or going for that long walk, or preparing meals for a week. As you see - productivity is quite broad in this research, it doesn't necessarily have to be something changing the world or advancing your career, but it should have some meaning and purpose to you.

What is also important about this research is that it points out to times when we are not actively engaged in work - when we are on a longer leave, when we retire or when we are laid off. In these days, having nothing to do can be detrimental to our mental health. Again, there are plenty of things we can engage in during such time: voluntary work, helping family members, learning something new preparing a side business etc. Make sure your retired relatives have something of such in their lives!

My personal insight:

I find it true that during days off, when I have nothing planned, I feel less happy than when I have some adventures/learning/time with friends in my schedule. Even during holidays, laying on the beach for full day is not really charging my batteries in a long run. But laying for 1 hour, then surfing, then snorkeling, then sightseeing is certainly something that makes me happy*. Probably that's why I resonate so much with this research. How about you? :)

Source:

Sharif, M. A., Mogilner, C., & Hershfield, H. E. (2021). Having too little or too much time is linked to lower subjective well-being.?Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,?121(4), 933.

Available here

*While I know this is also related to extraversion and openness, I wonder if some introverts around here could survive wasting time every day for more than 5 hours? ?? Really curious to see other perspectives on this :)