Back to: The Science of Well-Being
Time affluence is the feeling of having enough time, and research shows it predicts well-being better than material affluence does. Its opposite, time famine, the chronic sense of being rushed and behind, is linked to worse mood, worse health behaviors, and lower life satisfaction. Many people unknowingly trade time affluence for money they don’t need, then wonder why the money isn’t helping.
Studies by Ashley Whillans and colleagues found that people who spend money to buy time, for example paying for help with chores they dislike, report greater life satisfaction than those who spend the same money on material goods. Even people with modest incomes benefit. The mechanism is simple: buying time removes daily negative experiences, and daily experience is where well-being actually lives.
Practical moves: protect at least one unscheduled block in your week and treat it as an appointment with yourself. Where affordable, outsource your most-hated recurring chore. And beware ‘time confetti,’ free time shredded into unusable slivers by constant phone checks; one uninterrupted hour is worth more than six scattered ten-minute scraps.