According to a new survey, the average American feels they need an extra 4 hours each day. Those extra hours would help them finish everything on their to-do list. Honestly though, sounds like we have WAY too much going on and should cut out some of those “to-do’s”! See what I would do with the extra hours below!
OnePoll did this survey of 2,000 adults, and 60% say there aren’t enough hours in the day. But the question is… if we really had 4 extra hours each day, what would we do?
From the results, it seems we’d have a shift in priorities.
- 20% – focus more on projects/tasks they enjoy.
- 28% – work on more/larger projects.
- 34% – take care of chores
- 20% – get some extra sleep!
- 21% – pursue education (go back to school)
- 19% – adopt a pet!
The survey revealed the average person usually has about 5 things on their to-do list each day. But most of those will likely not be finished.
And what happens when we feel unproductive? Or there are too many things going on? We get burnt out. This survey found, on average, we’re feeling burnt out at least 3 days a week!
When we feel burnt out, chores are often the first thing we let slide from the to-do list. Since we feel like we don’t have enough time, we prefer to let chores go, and instead opt to fight burnout with some extra sleep, or spending more time in nature.
I think this has a lot to say about the world we live in. We are always GO, GO, GO… and always feel the need to be productive. While that’s not true for every single person, there are a lot of us that are fighting that fight. And burnout doesn’t lead to anything good! It affect our minds, and can even affect our physical health.
It’s important to take care of ourselves. And maybe for you, that’s just putting less on your to-do list. Or scheduling out down time. In a culture that applauds “busyness,” don’t let it consume you to the point where your body eventually shuts down.
Unfortunately, we can’t add an extra 4 hours each day. But if we could?
Here are a few things I’d do!
Spend More Time With Family
My family all lives about 2 1/2 hours away. So just the driving is about 6 hours total round trip– with stops or traffic. That drive time cuts into the time I’m able to spend with the family… but if the days were longer, I’d have more time I could stay!
Play With My Pups!
I would definitely use some of that extra time to spend with my three pups! Whether it was taking another walk, playing in the backyard, or just snuggling… I’d be really happy to spend more time with them!
Sleep
I know it sounds lazy for some people. But for me, I typically only get about 5 1/2 – 6 hours of sleep a night. I go to bed early, but also get up really early. And even if I get 6+ hours of sleep, it’s not always deep, quality sleep. So many mornings I struggle because of terrible sleep!
Take A Dance Class
It’s been YEARS since I’ve danced. But I loved it. There was something about dance that made me forget about everything else. Nothing else mattered when I was in dance class. I try to get the same feeling now from working out… but it isn’t quite the same!
Learn A New Language
I studied Spanish in both high school and college. I never became really fluent in it though. But I think being able to speak another language is great!
Clean/De-Clutter
I always have the best of intentions when it comes to cleaning and de-cluttering my house… BUT, there never seems to be enough time. Honestly, on the weekends, I’ll try to get everything clean as quick as I can… because the last thing I want to do is spend my free time cleaning! But I do need to do some deep cleaning and a lot of de-cluttering!
