Time Smart: How to Reclaim Your Time and Live a Happier Life

Philosopher Blaise Pascal said, “All of humanity’s problems stem from [our] inability to sit quietly in a room alone.”

It’s hard to overstate the value of socializing for your happiness dollars. In the most extreme case, shifting from (a) working all the time and never seeing your loved ones to (b) spending time each day with friends and family produces an income increase that is equivalent to making $108,000 more in annual household income.69 If all you do is work

You can also find time by adding to your positive experiences. Is there a positive activity (either productive or unproductive) that you want to do more of? For me, reading and listening to music are two of my happiest experiences, so I am purposeful about filling my downtime with those activities. Even a few minutes of your happiest or most purpos

The Reframing Time Worksheet Some activities that you can’t find or fund your way out of may seem like time-usurping misery, but there may be value in that time you’re not thinking about. By reframing how you think about time, you will feel better about the activity—even if you can’t get out of it. List those activities you must do that you don’t l

I’m often asked, “How much time should I spend finding time versus funding time?” There’s no one answer. Start by looking back at the Taylor or Morgan spectrum. If you are a moderate to deeply devoted Morgan and are money-focused (like me), you’ll likely want to spend more effort finding time versus funding time. Trying too hard to fund time will l

We’ve all heard the saying, “Money doesn’t buy happiness,” and, empirically, it’s true. Research shows that money protects against sadness but doesn’t buy joy.29 Once we make enough money to pay our bills, save for the future, and have at least some fun on the weekend, making more does little for our happiness. In data from 1.7 million people in 16

The key to avoiding mere urgency is to be disciplined about pro-time. Don’t miss the scheduled time, and track what you get done. If you lose hours because of an unexpected expense of time, make it up as soon as possible. Follow through—even if you are the only person who will know you did.

Schedule Proactive Time into Your Life Proactive time (one colleague calls it “pro-time,” and we’ll use that for its brevity) is time reserved for important but not urgent work (or leisure), found in the upper left of the matrix in figure 3-1

Turns out employers are (mostly) rewarding the busyness cult. Research shows that employees who boast about working nonstop and being extremely busy are seen by others as better workers who have more money and prestige, even if they don’t. They’re even thought to be more physically attractive.