How Much Free Time Is Too Much Free Time, According to Science
In today’s hectic world of work and family responsibilities, free time can seem like an impossible luxury. You can dream of long, lazy days doing what you enjoy. But as pleasant as all this time may seem, it turns out that there can be too much good: too much free time can actually be just as harmful as its lack.
As Cassie Holmes , a UCLA social psychologist who studies the impact of free time on happiness levels, recently wrote for CNBC , though “not having enough time makes us more overwhelmed, stressed, and emotionally drained” by having too much free time. undermines purpose.”
Ideal amount of free time
As Holmes and her colleagues found, there is a roughly ideal amount of free time that corresponds to an overall high level of life satisfaction. To study this correlation , they studied a dataset of 35,375 Americans that included information about the average amount of free time they had. He tracked the time they spent on leisure activities such as reading, watching TV, hanging out with friends, or simply relaxing, and compared this to their overall life satisfaction.
As it turned out, people who were most satisfied with life had two to five hours of free time a day; those with less than two hours were more stressed, and those with more than five hours also reported dissatisfaction.
As the authors wrote , “sufficient time for discretionary action can reduce the effect of people’s enjoyment of these activities,” since “people tend to hedonistic adaptation, causing them to become accustomed not only to life’s pains, but also to life’s pleasures.” If we have too few good things, we burn out and become unhappy, but if we have too many good things, we begin to view them as something special, depriving us of the joy we might have when they are more. moderate amount.
How you spend your free time matters
As Holmes advises , spending your free time wisely can help make it more meaningful, which is especially important if you’re short on time. Some of her suggestions include regular movement such as walking, hiking or fitness classes; find time for small good deeds; find ways to experience awe by spending time in nature or in an art museum; or spend meaningful time with the people you love.