How to Spend Time to Maximize Happiness

Time is the great equalizer in life. No matter where you live, what you do for work, or how much money you have, we are all granted 24 hours in a day that we can choose to optimize accordingly. The sobering truth is that a lot of this time is spent on mundane activities (sleeping, chores) and obligations (work). However, even the busiest of us have some free time to do with as we please. This raises the focal question of this post: What activities are best for making us happy?

In a survey conducted for Our World in Data, a project published by the non-profit organization Global Change Data Lab, going to the theater, concerts, sporting games/events, playing with children, and going to restaurants/pubs were the top five activities that make people the happiest on average¹. Note that all five of these activities are both exciting and typically involve a social component. Seeing a performer we love or a sports team we support can be fun, memorable, and potentially a once-in-a-lifetime event that we cherish and will look back on with a smile on our face for weeks, months, or years. These findings support research showing that spending money on experiences (vs. material goods) boosts happiness².

Concert tickets and dining out can be expensive. Activities that are a little lower on the list that are enjoyable without the price tag include sleeping, board games and computer games, religious services, playing sports, hobbies, and walking dogs. If you’re on a budget or looking for something more ordinary on any given day, consider spending time on one of these cheap or free activities to boost your mood.

What about the activities that make us least happy? The top five villains in this case were doing homework, looking/applying for a job, domestic chores (cleaning, laundry), commuting, and working. These activities all fall under the umbrella of tasks we must do. Although these tasks can be unavoidable in some cases, one can be creative in an attempt to make them more fun.

Activities and Happiness

Source: Our World in Data

Listening to music or an entertaining podcast can make homework, chores, and commuting more enjoyable when paired together. For particularly unpleasant yet important tasks, create a reward for yourself once you’ve finished. For example, plan a dinner out at a restaurant you love or a movie you’ve been wanting to see that evening to help get you through the task.

Breaking up unpleasant tasks at home or at work can also be highly effective. Planning to sit down for 4-plus hours straight and work on a difficult or unpleasant task is extremely hard, especially if there is no concrete deadline. I recently bought a timer to track work time, which I usually set for 45 minutes for work tasks. Once the 45 minutes is up, I will go for a short walk, have a snack, or watch a YouTube video before getting back to work. This technique, similar to the Pomodoro method, can help increase enjoyment and motivation. Give it a try.

The old adage “knowledge is power" rings true for understanding the activities we can spend our valuable resources of time and money on to increase happiness. By deliberately spending resources more on the positive, less on the negative, and exercising creativity in finding tricks to make unenjoyable tasks a little more fun, we can become the architects of our happiness.