People Who Value This One Thing More Than Money Are Way Happier, Says Study
Can you guess?
Krakenimages.com | Shutterstock Most of us have to work, but the importance we place on our jobs and the tendency to overwork are largely things we can control. It's better for our health and happiness to make the most of our time and enjoy ourselves. Those who value their free time stay happier longer. We only get this one life, do you really want to spend the majority of it working?
People who prioritize their free time over making money are happier.
Research published by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology found that money isn't a guarantee of happiness; instead, appreciating your time can provide a greater sense of well-being and satisfaction in life.
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According to a press release, Researchers analyzed data from "six studies that had more than 4,600 participants, and found an almost even split between people who tended to value their time or money, and that choice was a fairly consistent trait both for daily interactions and major life events."
The people who valued their time were happier. It's as simple as that.
Age seemed to be a factor in the choice between time and money.
For the study, participants were asked if they'd prefer having a more expensive apartment with a short commute, or a less expensive apartment with a long commute. They were also asked to choose between a graduate program that would lead to a job with long hours and a larger starting salary or a graduate program where they would end up with a lower-salary job with fewer hours.
"It appears that people have a stable preference for valuing their time over making money, and prioritizing time is associated with greater happiness," said lead researcher Ashley Whillans, a professor at Harvard Business School.
As the participants got older, they were more likely to value their time over their bank accounts. Maybe that's because, when you get older, you start to realize that time is finite and you need to treasure every moment you have. If you work your life away, you may have a big bank account, but your life may be devoid of joy and fun. What's the point of having all that money if you're never gonna use it?
"As people age, they often want to spend time in more meaningful ways than just making money," Whillans said. "Having more free time is likely more important for happiness than making money. Even giving up a few hours of a paycheck to volunteer at a food bank may have more bang for your buck in making you feel happier."
Young people often justify prioritizing money because they assume it will enhance their free time later in life.
Since the study, Whillans has become a bit of an expert in all things happiness and published a book in 2020 on the subject entitled "Time Smart: How to Reclaim Your Time and Live a Happier Life." What's so interesting about her book is the simple fact that despite her work on the study during her time as a doctoral student in 2016, she made the same mistake most young people do when they are just starting out. She prioritized the money.
She explained, "I was justifying my choices by telling myself what a lot of us tell ourselves: that we’re working hard now so we will have more time to be happy later." She went on to say, "We all need to make better decisions on the margins, so we don’t wake up one day like I did and ask, ‘What have I done?'"
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The biggest mistake young people make, according to Whillans, is letting themselves get overworked and burned out. She said the best way to combat that is by taking your vacation days — something many Americans fail miserably at. In fact, research has shown that 75% of Americans admit to not taking all their vacation days in a year, resulting in more than 700 million days spent working instead of relaxing.
“This is probably our most egregious misuse of our time and the simplest way to increase our happiness,” Whillans said. “When we’re burned out, we produce bad work and get demoralized. We all need time off to recharge, but we’re not taking enough of it.”
Time really goes by quickly, and if you don't take as many moments as you can to be present and grateful, you will reach the end of your life weary from all the stresses that focusing on money and work brings. Take your vacation days — you earned them!
Christine Schoenwald is a writer and performer. She's had articles in The Los Angeles Times, Salon, Bustle, Medium, and Woman's Day. Visit her website.
