Leisure: So Little Time

Modern life is very busy. Understatement of the century, huh?

Between family, work, and various other responsibilities, it's amazing we have any time for leisure anymore. I found the pie graph below from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and had to laugh. This data is from the American Time Use Survey from 2012.¹ I laugh because I wish I had the amount of leisure time indicated here (5.1 hours/day)! As I'm writing this, it's 5 AM on a Saturday morning, and I'm trying to complete this before my children wake up, and I can have some "leisure time" with them.

This graph includes data from people 15 years and older, so it must skew toward greater leisure time. What would the graph look like with a more "adult" group? Take a look at the graph below.¹ In this group surveyed (ages 25 to 54 year-olds with children) the leisure time is reduced to 2.6 hours of "leisure and sports").

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Unfortunately for me, this chart is still inaccurate, as I'm sure it is for many of you. I average about 12 hours/day working (instead of 8.8), maybe 30 minutes eating (while not working), and zero "other" – whatever that is!

For me, leisure time usually means those few short minutes between various responsibilities. Though I love spending time with my children, I can't possibly consider that leisure. That means I value every spare minute I get for actual leisure (reading a book, watching a TV show, or spending time with my wife, for example).

One way to improve this time is to outsource certain responsibilities. For instance, last night after work, the family went out to sushi dinner. This is a rare event in the Shapiro household for three reasons. One, our busy schedules don't often allow us time to sit down together. Two, we try to eat a healthy home meal whenever possible. And three, my daughter, now coming up on 3 year-olds, is just now becoming controllable in public. As it turns out, we had a lovely dinner, and we didn't have to clean up the kitchen afterwards.

Similarly, we outsource certain household activities such as lawn-mowing. In actuality, my wife fired me from mowing the lawn, arguing that I had little enough time on the weekends, and my time was worth more to the family than it was cutting the grass. I have to say she was right. Despite my enjoying the look of a freshly mowed lawn, I'd rather see my kids on the weekends. Other friends of mine maximize their time outsourcing other responsibilities such as house cleaning. I haven't gotten there yet, but I can surely see the benefit of this. I spend about three to four hours each weekend on household duties. I wouldn't argue with my wife if she wanted to hire someone to clean the floors, bathrooms, and windows.

Another trick I have found personally helpful is to use my calendar. I use a Google calendar, which allows me to sync my work, personal, and residency calendars in one. I can also keep a task list, if so inclined. My wife and I also sync portions of our calendars, so we each know what the other is doing for special events and other responsibilities. I recently started adding tasks to my calendar, allowing a specific time limit for each. This has actually made me more productive while providing more of that, oh so rare, leisure time. Of course, something invariably comes up, so flexibility is a must.

Regardless of whatever system you use, there is most definitely a price to pay for leisure, whether in lost work productivity, lost time, or lost money. For each of us, that price varies, but when I get the time to play with my kids or see my wife, I'm increasingly willing to pay that price. Whether you get 2.6 hours or more, make the most of every leisure moment you have.

Best wishes,

Jarrod Shapiro, DPM
PRESENT Practice Perfect Editor
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