Achieving happiness has always been a quest for many, often entailing various pursuits and expectations. One perspective gaining traction is detailed in our article ‘The Suprising Power of Low Expectations’. Buddhists believe that by expecting less, one can appreciate more, finding joy in the simplicity of everyday life. This notion dovetails perfectly with insights from Cassie Holmes’ Happier Hour: How to Beat Distraction, Expand Your Time, and Focus on What Matters Most, which emphasizes the profound impact of how we allocate our time on our overall happiness.
An overview of Happier Hour
Before Happier Hour was published, Cassie Holmes dedicated her time to studying the relationship between time and happiness at the UCLA Anderson School of Management. It was her groundbreaking research on this topic that led to the birth of the book. Essentially, her thesis was that more free time doesn’t always mean more happiness. In fact, a survey of more than 21,000 Americans carried out as part of the study found that free time and well-being were positively linked until about two hours of free time, and began to decline after five hours.
Holmes contends that a big part of our happiness comes from our intentional thoughts and behavior, and Happier Hour is a research-based roadmap for how to organize your time more intentionally to be happier. Holmes’ bestselling book can be found under the career and growth audiobooks category on Everand. The digital library’s extensive collection of titles focused on personal and professional growth includes an ebook version as well, narrated by Holmes herself. Whichever format you choose, you’ll learn lots of strategies to boost your own happiness, some of which we’ve compiled below.
Key lessons from Happier Hour
One concept that Holmes addresses is time poverty, defined as the sense of not having enough time to do what you need to do or want to do. A national poll reveals that nearly half of Americans struggle with time poverty, leading to feelings of stress and decreased job satisfaction. Holmes also found that this can impact physical health and degrade our relationships. To combat feelings of time poverty, she suggests identifying and protecting time for the activities that matter. This can be done by tracking how much time you spend on certain activities during the week, and identifying how satisfied you feel from that time. Doing so will give you a better sense of what truly matters, allowing you to carve out precious time for activities that bring a sense of purpose.
Holmes also introduces the concept of time crafting, where one consciously designs their day to include meaningful activities. For example, if you face daily commutes to work, rather than wasting time scrolling through your phone, Holmes suggests listening to an audiobook or podcast you love. Research shows that daily commutes are typically the least enjoyable times for workers, but by intentionally curating this time, you can score points on your happiness scale.
Lastly, Holmes drives home the importance of balancing work and leisure. More specifically, she teaches readers to treat the weekend like a vacation. Science confirms that even short breaks can boost your happiness, and it doesn’t require actually having a vacation. Holmes found that when people were randomly assigned to treat the weekend like a vacation and others to treat it like a regular weekend, those with a vacation mindset enjoyed their weekend more and were happier. Interestingly, it wasn’t about drastically changing how they spent their time-the mindset simply helped them feel more present.
Ultimately, Happier Hour offers a transformative approach to time management, emphasizing the connection between how we spend our time and our overall happiness. By adopting Holmes’ strategies, readers can expect to find greater joy and fulfillment in their daily lives.
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