Research suggests the sweet spot is roughly two to five hours of free time a day. Less than that is linked to stress, and more is linked to lower well-being, especially when the time isn't spent on something meaningful.
What the research says
In 2021, Marissa Sharif of the Wharton School, with Cassie Mogilner Holmes and Hal Hershfield of UCLA, published research in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Using data from more than 35,000 Americans, they found that well-being rose with free time up to about two hours a day, leveled off, and began to decline after about five hours.
In follow-up experiments, the drop at high levels of free time mostly disappeared when people spent that time on productive or social activities, such as exercise, hobbies or time with others.
What the research can't say
The researchers themselves cautioned that the two and five hour marks are rough, based on reading a graph. Your ideal amount depends on your life, your work and your season.
What it means
Two lessons come out of this research:
- Too little free time hurts. If every hour is spoken for, stress builds. Protecting some unscheduled time matters.
- Too much empty time also hurts. More time isn't automatically better. What you do with it matters.
The habit: protect some time, and use it well
- Guard at least a couple of hours of your own time on most days.
- Fill free time with things that build you: friends, family, exercise, a craft, learning, serving.
- Notice which free-time activities leave you better and which leave you drained.
The rule that makes it stick: plan your free time too
It sounds odd, but planning some of your free time makes it more likely you'll spend it well instead of losing it to scrolling.
This week
Look at how much free time you have each day. If it's very little, find one hour to protect. If it's a lot, plan one meaningful activity for it.
The keep
Using free time on purpose costs a little planning. It turns empty hours into a better life.
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