How To Reclaim Your Time

“Four out of five adults report feeling that they have too much to do and not enough time to do it,” reports Ashley Whillans, author of the new book, Time Smart: How to Reclaim Your Time and Live a Happier Life. “These time-poor people experience less joy each day. They laugh less. They are less healthy and less productive.” And, in one study, time stress produced a stronger negative effect on happiness than unemployment.

Drawing on the latest science, Whillans teaches us how to escape the time traps that make us feel this way and keep us from living our best lives.

She explains that the six most common time traps are:

Constant connection to technology.
Obsession with work and making money.
Limited value placed on time.
Busyness as a status symbol.
Aversion to idleness.
The Yes…and then regret it effect.

Her playbook shows you how to:

take back the time you lose to mindless tasks and unfulfilling chores.
improve your "time affluence.”
free up seconds, minutes, and hours that, over the long term, become weeks and months that you can reinvest in positive, healthy activities.
have the mindset shift needed to use what she teaches you to become part of your everyday regimen through assessments, checklists, and activities you can use right away.

Take the time to read Time Smart. It will help you think totally differently about time and how to use it more effectively to your advantage.

Whillans is an assistant professor at Harvard Business School. She is part of the Global Happiness Council and the Workplace and Well-Being Initiative at Harvard University.

Thank you to the book's publisher for sending me an advance copy of the book.

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