Pick time over money to be happy

To be happy, make choices based on time, not money. It’s not easy, as the world and our brains are rigged to make us value money first.

“Time affluence” is now at a record low in the United States, with 80% of people stating that they do not have the time to do what they want each day. This situation is a collective cultural failure to manage our most precious resource, time, effectively.

No matter what the outcome of our efforts, we all feel increasingly strapped for time, and often the things that we think will make us happy, the accomplishments we work so hard for, don’t. And, they certainly do not give us back moments with our families and friends or more hours to ourselves.

Research shows that those who feel time-poor experience lower levels of happiness and higher levels of anxiety, depression, and stress. They experience less joy, laugh less, exercise less, and are less healthy. Their productivity at work is diminished too. Time stress even has a stronger adverse effect on happiness than being unemployed.

Rethinking how you value time to help answer the more fundamental question of how to maximize your well-being, and help yourself escape the stress traps of everyday life.

Inspired by: Harvard Business Review - Time for Happiness, by Ashley Whillans