Time Poverty: a significant threat to wellness

November 1, 2020 Jeffrey Taekman

If I asked you what factor had the most influence on health, happiness, and wellness, what would you respond? Money? Diet? Nope. The answer is TIME.

Rich countries continue to perpetuate the belief that material wealth is the only indicator of national welfare. A key example is using the metric of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as the determinate of country-specific welfare. Yet, for 50 years, we have known that happiness does not increase linearly with economic growth, the so-called Easterlin Paradox.

Over the last decade, enlightened economists and academics have asked whether we should rethink indicators of a nation's health and wellness. Many scholars agree, an updated model of national health and wellness must include the variable of self-directed time. Leisure time impacts every pillar of health and wellness. Unfortunately, in rich countries, personal time has fallen victim to our always-on, technology-laden lives, and misguided corporate beliefs.

What is time poverty?

Time poverty is defined as having too many things to do and not enough time to do them. Many in academics and other professions consider time poverty a "Badge of Honor." The misperception of time poverty as a virtue results from the "winner-take-all" model of professional advancement. Central to the winner take all model is the stereotype of the "ideal worker" who transmit their loyalty and commitment to an organization through long work hours and all-consuming commitment to the workplace. Workers who do not embrace the "ideal worker" stereotype are marginalized and often eliminated.

Time poverty is a constant in almost everyone's life. Modern stressors include a lack of job security and life in a technology-fueled "always-on" society. The feelings of time poverty are particularly profound among working parents. If you're a parent, your children add to your time poverty.

Despite time poverty being ubiquitous, the effects on the rich versus the poor are different. If you are well-compensated in your work, the "opportunity cost" of "wasting your time" on leisure activity is a constant source of stress. Spending too much time on leisure may also signal to your organization you are not an "ideal worker."

If you are poor, the realities of your day-to-day life may leave you with little time you call your own. You may have to work multiple jobs, commute longer distances, and make other sacrifices just to get by.

One disparity between the rich and poor: The rich have the luxury of spending their money on devices and services to save time (e.g., housecleaners, dishwashers, lawn care services), whereas the poor must use their time to save money.

Time poverty impacts most employees, detracting from workforce wellness and decreasing productivity while increasing burnout.

What factors led to time poverty being so common? Time loss is not just a result of our work environments. We sabotage ourselves. We are much more sensitive to losses in material goods than losses in time. Thus, we consistently value money over time. People only pay attention to time-loss when the costs are immense. Perhaps the insensitivity is because time is a much more ethereal concept than cash. Other factors are at play as well. For instance, most people can't stand sitting idle with their thoughts. In a strange study, individuals prefer electric shocks to sitting with nothing to do.

The Effects of Time Poverty

In truth, when it comes to wellness, lack of time is far more impactful than lack of money. Lack of time affects well-being in many ways, impeding the pursuit of the pillars of health. Lack of time negatively impacts:

Movement: inadequate time for exercise.
Diet: insufficient time to plan and prepare healthy meals. Greater reliance on fast and ultra-processed food.
Mind-body: insufficient to meditate or practice mindfulness. Insufficient time to pursue professional counseling if needed.
Relationships-inadequate time to build and maintain healthy relationships with family and friends.
Rest and Rejuvenation - inadequate time to sleep.
Spirituality - insufficient time to appreciate the beauty and connectedness of the world.

Clawing Back Your Time

If you have the resources, here are some ways to improve your time-surplus and make the time you have more meaningful:

start viewing downtime as critical-as important as work.
take technology breaks-spend less time on social media and news.
be mindful of how you spend your day - allocate every hour of your day wisely.
reframe your thoughts: if you say "I don't have enough time," what you mean is "that is not important enough to me." Saying "no" is okay.
spend less time on things you dislike, and focus more on the things you love.
embrace a passion--learn an instrument, a new foreign language, or a new type of fitness.
be present for friends and family.
make your downtime count.

Unfortunately, if you're poor, time-poverty is often not a choice. The focus in the U.S. solely on money to improve our nation's health and wellness is misguided. If our goal is to improve our country's health and wellness, we must expand our focus beyond econmics to the issue of time poverty, especially in the poor.