WEBE Wellness: Can You Have Too Much Free Time?

Bored young businesswoman pulling a face and pouting as she rests her chin on her hands and peers over her computer at the camera

WEBE Wellness: Can You Have Too Much Free Time?

We all look forward to having free time – especially as we head into the weekend. But you either feel like you don’t have enough free time, or you have too much, and you become bored.

But is having one better than the other?

According to a new study, people are happier when they have more free time. It’s not surprising, but they only felt that way up to a certain point – two hours per day. If people find that they have more than five hours of free time per day, then they had a more negative opinion of their free time – just as bad as if they don’t have enough.

Too little free time makes people feel like they don’t have enough time to relax and do what they want to do, and too much makes them feel lazy and lacking purpose.

So, since the sweet spot for your wellbeing is right in the middle, researchers suggest those who feel like they have too little free time should try to find a few more leisure hours, and those with a lot of it should plan to do something more productive rather than wait for things to happen.

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