Feeling overwhelmed by your to-do list can certainly make you unhappy, but new research suggests that more free time might not be the magic elixir many of us dream it could be.
In a new study released last week, researchers analyzed data from two large-scale surveys about how Americans spend their time. Together, the surveys included more than 35,000 respondents. The researchers found that people with more free time generally had higher levels of subjective well-being ― but only up to a point.
People who had up to two hours of free time a day generally reported they felt better than those who’d had less time. But people who had five or more hours of free time a day generally said they felt worse. So ultimately, the free-time “sweet spot” might be two to three hours per day, the findings suggest.
“While too little time is bad, having more time is not always better,” said Marissa Sharif, an assistant professor of marketing at The Wharton School and lead author of the paper, in a press release.
Part of finding this seemingly elusive “sweet spot” has to do with how people spend the extra time they have, the researchers behind the new study argue.
They conducted several smaller online experiments. In one, they asked participants to imagine having 3½ to seven free hours per day. They were asked to imagine spending that time doing “productive” things or to imagine doing “unproductive” activities.
Study participants believed their well-being would suffer if they had a lot of free time during the day — but only if they used it reproductively. Though that experiment was hypothetical, which is one limitation of the new research, it’s certainly in line with other research showing that being in a state of “flow” can be good for people’s mental health.
In other words, how people use their free time matters, Sharif said.
Of course, what feels “productive” is up to you. If watching two hours of “Real Housewives” in your free time increases your happiness, you should do that. The point of all of this is self-care, not shame.
“In cases when people do find themselves with excessive amounts of discretionary time, such as retirement or having left a job,” Sharif said, “our results suggest these individuals would benefit from spending their newfound time with purpose.”
After reading the above article, what do you think? How do you usually spend your time? Do you enjoy your free time? Leave a comment and tell us!
