Time = Happiness
From an article at BBC News:
Using money to free-up time is linked to increased happiness, a study says.
In an experiment, individuals reported greater happiness if they used £30 ($40) to save time – such as by paying for chores to be done – rather than spending the money on material goods.
Psychologists say stress over lack of time causes lower well-being and contributes to anxiety and insomnia.
So lets put our efforts, as hinted at by the research, into accumulating time instead of stuff, yeah?
Yet, they say even the very wealthy are often reluctant to pay people to do the jobs they dislike.
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About Robert Wringham
Robert Wringham is the editor of New Escapologist. He also writes books and articles. Read more at wringham.co.uk
Isn’t this backwards? Isn’t the relentless pursuit of money a big part of the “time stress”? Won’t sub contracting out the minutia of daily living just increase the need for money and aggravate the problem?
Reducing my wants while reducing the amount of time I work has given me time to wash my own car, cook, and take care of my kid. All things I don’t have to pay other people to do. It seems to be working for me. And I rarely feel time stressed.
Oh, absolutely. And those domestic tasks are even a pleasure when you’re not harassed by the huge time commitment of a job. Paying for chores to be done, I’m pretty certain, was just part of the study’s methodology — like, how to test for the existence of time poverty. The central finding, that time poverty is a cause of unhappiness, can be navigated however one likes. I run my home and life much in the way you describe.
In the same way that a leisurely bike ride to the library, work or the coffee shop replaces going to the gym or driving to work whilst saving lots of money
Darn tootin’.