A simple strategy for happienss
How do you answer that universal question that everyone keeps asking, “How do I become more happy?
Harvard professor Ashley Whillians claims by spending more money to avoid having to do boring chores, we can achieve a happier and stress free life. She describes how we are often too scared to spend more money out of guilt.
But her research suggests that by ditching stressful activities to free up more time to spend with the people we love and care about, we enhance our overall joy and contentment in our lives.
Paying for House Cleaning
Paying someone to to your housecleaning, food shopping, laundry won’t set you back as much as you think.
It will make you happier. You’re parting with a pit of cash to stamp out those small details that create the stresses in our day, “use money to buy yourself out of negative experiences.”
Simple Solutions for Time Poverty
- Prioritize time over money (“buy time”)
- Deliberately savor daily experiences
- Plan time as carefully as money
- Hold yourself accountable: Create a “time affluence to do list”
Buying time
Her studies have found that by paying more to live closer to work, or for someone to do the cleaning, washing or any other of the drudgery details of your life, you are “buying time”.
She says, ” I find in my studies that people feel really guilty about outsourcing even though they’re giving up money to have more time that they have worked hard to earn.
” We feel like a burden and as if we can’t do things for yourself if we outsource our chores,” she continued. By paying someone to deliver meals, clean our home or mow the lawn one can feel incapable.
Counteract those feelings of guilt
Professor Whillans went on to say, “The best way to counteract those feelings of guilt is to focus on the value you’re gaining. The key to ensuring that free time leads to greater happiness is to make it meaningful.”
“Just the simple act of thinking about giving up money to have more free time seems to make people plan their time a bit better. One starts to think, “if I’m going to incur this cost to have this free time, then I’m going to make sure I really enjoy the extra time that I’ve given myself.”
Whenever we open our wallet, she argues, we start asking ourselves, “Is this money changing the way that I spend my time”.
