Want To Be Happier? Make More Free Time

Author : xpnew

Publish Date : 2021-02-06 22:13:12

by Dina Gerdeman

After earning a doctorate, Ashley Whillans received two tempting job offers: one in her hometown, where she could remain close to family and friends and work reasonable hours for the local government, and another that required a cross-country move and promised more money and prestige.

Without much hesitation, she opted for the higher-paying position in a new city, figuring it would be an adventure with her partner of eight years and lead to more exciting work opportunities down the road.

It’s a choice many people face at key times in their life. What should we pursue more: money and career, or free time and family?

Soon after settling into her dream job, Whillans worked and traveled constantly, but her partner was miserable, with no job or friends nearby. During one work trip, the couple was fighting long distance, and Whillans barely made it to Cornell University in time to give a talk about her research. The topic of her presentation: the mistake we often make in chasing a higher paycheck at the expense of quality time with loved ones.

“I started talking to this roomful of people about how our time matters and working too much can affect our relationships,” says Whillans, a Harvard Business School assistant professor. “I tried to put my professor face on but, really, I was devastated because my relationship was breaking up, and I realized: I wasn’t living my own research.”

After her partner walked out—plus she missed her cousin’s funeral and a chance to meet her best friend’s newborn because of work trips—Whillans spent that Christmas alone in her apartment reflecting on her missteps and started writing her book, Time Smart: How to Reclaim Your Time and Live a Happier Life, which will publish October 6.

“I was justifying my choices by telling myself what a lot of us tell ourselves: that we’re working hard now so we will have more time to be happy later,” she says. “We all need to make better decisions on the margins, so we don’t wake up one day like I did and ask, ‘What have I done?’”

Happiness is … more time, not more money

When people invest too much time and energy into making more money, it’s often because they assume the extra cash will bring greater happiness. But they are wrong. People with more free time are actually happier, healthier, and more productive than people who work all the time and make more money, according to Whillans’ research, including a 2019 study (pdf) of working adults in 79 countries.

Too much work and not enough play is making an increasing number of people feel “time poor”—stressed from having too many things to do and not enough time to do them. In 2011, 70 percent of working Americans reported that they “never had enough time,” and by 2018, that number increased to 80 percent, according to Gallup US Daily Poll data.

How do we free up time and improve our moods? Whillans says it starts with prioritizing activities that bring us joy—savoring a well-cooked meal with a spouse, taking a leisurely walk with a friend, reading a book to a child—and minimizing the time-sucking nonsense that drags us down, like long commutes, household chores, and mindless scrolling on social media.