Time affluence is the time to do the things that you value (including doing nothing at all!).

You may never have heard of this, yet research shows that people who invest in this are happier.

Research (among others by Whillans et al. 2016) shows that people who prioritize their time on getting more money (money-over-time type) were less happy than people who do not mind earning less and instead having more free time to do things they value (time-over-money type).

So, if you can use some more happiness in your live, please read on for one more minute and do the assignment below (yes, invest in this, this is also time affluence!).

Assignment

Question 1:

How much time affluence do you have every week: I allocate ……. hours and …………minutes every week to time affluence.

Question 2:

Ask yourself: To which category do you belong:  

1. the money-over-time type or

2. the time-over-money type?

=> How does this work out for you?

 Time Affluence Action step:

If you want to change your ‘time affluence’ scale in your current life, today is a perfect day to start: make time to do something that you value but had not (yet) scheduled in. Just do it. And see how it makes you feel and how your mood also influences your environment.

Not only doing more what you love (including doodling!) makes you happier, also being more aware of the time you have and what you (can) do with it, makes you happier and more social (for instance, research by Mogilner 2010).

Time affluence: be aware of its impact, own it, make time for it and be happier!