A Happier You

Did you know that the happiest people have somewhere between 2 to 5 hours of free time per day?

In Happier Hour, Cassie Holmes, social psychologist, award winning teacher and researcher on the role of time in cultivating happiness and satisfaction in life, demonstrates how we can improve our lives by how we perceive and invest our time. This book is an investment guide about your most precious resource, time.

Here are some takeaways:

• “If you know how to invest your time and are invested in your time, you can make yourself happier”. That means selecting the activities that will allow you to look back on your life and see that you have achieved the results you wanted and being fully engaged in those activities.

• It is not about being time rich, it is about making the time you have rich.

• To figure out where you should invest your time, start by defining your Why:

Why do I do what I do (why do I wake up in the morning)?

Why is that important?

Why do I care about that?

And why that?

Ultimately, what is my why?

• Track your time. Yes, I know. No one likes doing it. Laura Vanderkam, one of my favourite authors has been talking about time tracking and has used data based on people tracking their time in many of her books. Here is a link to a time tracking spreadsheet.

• Then figure out the activities that sparked the greatest joy? Just like Marie Kondo. How can you intentionally incorporate more of them into your life?

• Remember the jar analogy with the rocks, pebbles, sand and…..beer. Start by planning your week by putting the rocks in first. This could be exercising, spending time with family, working on your business. Those are the big things that give you energy and move the needle.

• Do you have a habit of not sticking to the plan? Maybe you can incorporate a commitment device? A commitment device is a way to lock yourself in to follow through on your goal by imposing a cost on yourself if you don’t. This could include signing up for a fitness class where there is a cancellation fee, committing to having a babysitter come over on a certain night of the week or agreeing to do the activity with a friend or colleague who will be waiting for you.

• The drive towards doing is distracting us from just being. Living in the present moment significantly enhances the way we experience life.

To learn more about this, Cassie Holmes has a course on LinkedIn Learning called Time Management for Greater Meaning and Happiness. Don’t forget that free access to LinkedIn Learning is available at most public libraries.

Apparently even HELLO magazine just launched HELLO Happiness: the guide to a happier, more optimistic life. Here is an article about the launch which features more of my favourites on this topic: Dr. Tara Swart, Roxie Nafousi and Anna Mathur.

Comment below and share what you are going to do today to enhance your happiness!