Survey Says Life Isn't Fun Anymore & The Solution Is A Thing We Don't Have Enough Of
Tim Mossholder | Pexels Life can be so grueling. Between juggling work and maintaining a home, there's not much left in the tank for fun. The list never seems to end, and making time for joy feels like carving wood with a butter knife; it could work, but it's hard to make it happen.
Whatever happened to having fun for fun's sake? It's a necessary part of staying sane as working humans in this money-centric society. Sadly, a recent survey found that nearly half of adults in the U.S. think life isn't fun anymore, and they simply don't have enough free time to change that unfortunate fact.
Survey says life isn't fun anymore, and the only solution is the one thing we don't have enough of: more free time.
The survey conducted by Talker Research on behalf of Dave & Buster's found that a whopping 48% of American adults said they simply don't have enough time for fun. In fact, researchers noted, "Those who said they don't get enough fun in their lives just want 17 extra hours per week to change that."
17 hours. On paper, that's honestly not that much time. However, it feels monumental in the day-to-day.
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Especially given what people said that they would do with those 17 hours. Of the majority, 77% said they would watch TV, 69% said they would see family or friends, 59% said they would dine out, and 50% said they would do outdoor activities. This is no surprise, given that these activities would arguably take up a lot of time.
However, there's a lot more to having fun than these activities. While it's true that those let you disengage a little and let loose, there are plenty of ways to incorporate fun into the monotony of the day-to-day. So why do Americans say they need 17 hours to have fun?
People aren't having fun because it's just not a priority.
Time is a hot commodity. We only get so much of it in our day-to-day, yet making fun plans and following through with them is a completely different story.
As far as prioritizing fun, money is a big part of it. We spend so much time working and contributing to an income that the remainder of the money gets put to something else. Indirectly, our time gets put somewhere else.
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It's undoubtedly hard to prioritize fun when you're just too tired to engage. But maybe we're making it harder than it has to be. Fun isn't defined by going out for drinks or spending a fortune on concert tickets. Fun can also mean taking little moments throughout the day to connect with others or one's hobbies.
I personally love singing in my car on my morning commute to work. I also frequently dance around my apartment whenever I'm home, and I'll send hilarious Instagram Reels to my friends during some me time. While we can't always summon money on the spot, we can generate our own fun in any given moment. Beyond that, making time for fun in life is genuinely important for our sense of good health and overall well-being.
We have to focus on our well-being and make time for fun.
Making time to have fun is essential for us all. According to wellness experts Lawrence Robinson, Melinda Smith, M.A., Jeanne Segal, Ph.D., and Jennifer Shubin, having fun as adults has numerous benefits that don't always come to mind when we think of fun. Some are more obvious, like relieving stress and improving mood. However, you might not realize that fun can improve brain function, give you a boost of energy, build resilience, and maybe most importantly, strengthen the bond we have with others.
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Think about it, if you're never having fun, you're probably starting to notice that life feels dull. You're might be in a constant state of stress, missing loved ones, wondering when life became so serious, and all about working. After a while, something's got to give. It's just not worth the cost of your sanity to never have fun or to never carve out time in your day for it.
17 hours may seem like a lot, but it's only about 2.5 hours a day. Maybe it's time to set more boundaries around work. And really, it's okay if the house isn't pristine.
There are always small moments throughout the day that we can choose to have fun, too. Even if we all long to have hours to ourselves to just relax and not worry about the rest of life, infusing a little fun into what we do every day is a surefire way to add a little vibrancy to life.
Luke Aliga is a writer with a degree in Technical Writing and Communication who covers relationships, culture, and human interest topics.
