We are all familiar with the term financially affluent, however, the term gaining traction today is time affluence. Time affluence Time Affluence Increases Happiness. So How Do You Achieve It? – MOJEH is when you feel like you have enough time to relax or pursue meaningful activities. Time poverty is when you feel stressed because you are constantly rushing and feel you never can catch up. It becomes especially obvious during this time of year when many employees are off work for the holidays. People slow down and start wondering whether the hamster wheel they are on is truly the best way to enjoy and bring real meaning to their lives. In fact, four out of five adults report Why You Never Seem to Have Enough Time (berkeley.edu) feeling that they have too much to do and not enough time to do it. People who experience less time affluence also experience less joy each day. They laugh less. They are less healthy, less productive, and more likely to divorce. In one study, stress related to time poverty produced a stronger negative effect on happiness than even unemployment.
Unlike money, where we have choices to either spend what we have more wisely or create/earn more, we cannot increase our time. We all have the same 24 hours each day. So, the option that leaves us with is finding a way to use our time most wisely. Below are some ways to get the most out of the time we have.
Meditate
Strangely enough, taking downtime, especially to meditate, How to Meditate – Mindful can make us more productive in the time we spend working or actively engaged. Especially if you have a difficult problem to solve. Our subconscious minds will often continue to work after we have taken a break, allowing us to come back and see new solutions.
New Experiences
Engaging in new experiences can alter our sense of time. We have all had the experience of time moving more quickly or slowly depending on what we are doing and how engaged at the moment we are. When we free our minds to try new things, we allow ourselves the gift of experiencing our daily life differently.
Funding Time
Research has shown that people that make the decision to “buy” their way out of unenjoyable activities frequently respond more favorably to being time affluent. The peace of mind you receive by giving yourself 3 hours of housekeeping/cleaning services may pay big dividends in your life.
Block Time
Blocking out time What Is Time Blocking And How Does It Work? (2021 Guide) – Biz 3.0 (timedoctor.com) on your calendar to just think or catch up with someone you haven’t seen in a while starts to reframe how you think about time. In our “always-on” society, there is an expectation that we will respond to e-mails within minutes, creating a vicious circle. Blocking time for downtime and treating it as just as important as the next barrage of e-mails can keep you feeling more in control of your day.
Money and time have much in common. They can both be measured, and we feel as if we never have enough of either, forcing us to constantly choose between the two. The choices that we make, every day, can powerfully shape our feelings of fulfillment and happiness from the moments, days, and years of our lives. Choose wisely to enjoy your definition of a life well-lived.