Work hard, play longer

ARTICLE: “The land of leisure: Why Americans have plenty of time to read this,” The Economist, 4 February 2006, p. 28.

Interesting research on leisure time in the U.S. says we’ve actually picked up more non-work time in recent decades (almost a full day per week), but that so much of it is swallowed in activities and errands that we continue to see ourselves as more and more harried. Plus all the networking toys means we’re answering emails on the 9th hole, which we interpret as “neverending work” but really strikes the researchers as “nice work if you can get it.”

This research, done at U. Chicago’s Biz School, didn’t include anyone over 65, so the article’s author argues that the findings probably underestimate the overall rise in leisure time, unless you count answering emails from grandkids as work.