Time and How to Spend It: The 7 Rules for Richer, Happier Days
Summary of 8 key concepts
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Introduction
Imagine this: You're back home after work, feeling the exhaustion of the day in your bones. You collapse onto the couch and tell yourself you deserve to just zone out. So, you take out your phone. Now, pause right there and answer this. When you go down that endless TikTok rabbit hole to "relax," has it ever actually helped? Has it ever left you feeling happy and content? The truth is, real joy bubbles up from little daily pleasures in off-the-clock hours. Outside of your normal work hours and activities
We are at a point where we have more things demanding our time than ever before. Juggling work, never-ending chores, daily exercise routine you know you shouldn't skip, and actually trying to enjoy yourself once in a while, can feel straight-up impossible.
Time and How to Spend It (2019) by James Wallman gives you an insight into how to utilize your free time in a meaningful and rewarding manner. Backed by scientific research from the best of the best - studies out of Cornell, Harvard, the London School of Economics, and even Cambridge - this book cracks the code on how you can improve the quality of your leisure time.
James Wallman, commentator and trend forecaster, delivers the most practical checklist for anyone out there who feels overwhelmed with modern life’s unlimited options and wants to utilize their time properly. When you improve the quality of your leisure time, you are bound to find deeper meaning and increase the happiness quotient of your life.
And the very first secret to truly treasuring your hours is simply this - seek out and immerse in the experiences that set your soul on fire.
Summary
The 7 elements of STORIES are highly effective if you wish to lead a life of fulfillment and happiness. Use them to plan your free time and you'll find the experiences that will add a deeper meaning to your life, further your personal development, and enhance your happiness quotient allowing you to lead a rewarding life.
Choose Meaningful Experiences To Lead A Fulfilling Life!
Our capitalist society has made us believe that time not spent earning is time wasted! If we're not being productive little worker bees around the clock, we're useless. No! That's not how it should be! Being productive is one thing. But to think we need to be busy 24/7 - that's a one-way ticket to burnout. For such people, life is a hollow chain of tasks, with no free time at the end of the day. The thing to contemplate is...
Be The Main Character And Write Your Own STORIES!
STORIES! Positive experiences are the ones that make STORIES. The acronym STORIES stands for Story, Transformation, Outside and Offline, Relationships, Intensity, Extraordinary, and Status and Significance. What do we mean by that? If a specific activity you wish to pursue ticks off one or all items on the above checklist, congratulations! You've collected a meaningful and positive experience - an experience adding to your own life story! Say you went on a weekend camping trip with friends. That's a STORIES-worthy...
'T' is For Transformation!
A story where the hero does not end up with a major transformation is never gonna make it to your list of faves. The same holds true for you. If the you of 10 years from now is the same as the you from 10 years back, stuck on repeat without a hint of transformation, sorry to break it to you, but you ain't making STORIES. Growth is the key to leading a fulfilling life, people! You have to face...
Stay Offline, Stay Outside, Stay Happy!
The Outside and Offline part of the checklist is pretty straightforward. When you decide to spend quality time in nature, taking a break from the online world, the experience adds meaning and depth to your life. The idea is to indulge in a meaningful activity like a walk, a run or just watching a sunset. While going to a gym is excellent for your body, a walk in the park will bring extraordinary moments that will inspire you. Take it up...
Take Time To Engage In Meaningful And Real Interaction With People!
Loneliness can kill! Like, no joke. Researchers analyzed almost three and a half million folks for 7 whole years. What did they uncover? Being socially cut off has survival odds worse than smoking or diabetes. Chronically lonely people see a 29% increased death risk. Zero friends or family? Up another 26%. Even flying solo hikes your odds by 32%. The thing is, continuous loneliness leads to stress. Stress may clog your arteries. Clogged arteries mean, 'Bye bye, cruel world! When loneliness...
Want a happiness frenzy? Engage in immersive activities that give you good flow!
Have you ever heard someone be like "I'm so in the zone today" or "I'm vibing to it so good"? What is this space where ideas flow like water? And why are we left so satisfied at the end of it? Athletes call this headspace demanding full awareness and dedication, "the zone", while our author James prefers the term "good flow". A good flow is a state of being where you are completely involved in an activity, so much so that...
It's All About An Extraordinary Ending! And the peak.
You know what's pretty awesome? When your ordinary, boring day suddenly gets a whole lot more extraordinary!! Like you're stuck in a tedious meeting and right at the end, someone brings in a box of your favorite donuts. Even though most of the experience sucked, you somehow walk away thinking "Hey, that wasn't so bad." It's called the peak-end rule. It basically says that the peak emotions and the ending moments of an experience have an outsized impact on our memory...
Get Involved In Activities That Elevate Your Status!
Contrary to popular belief, status does bring happiness. Researchers believe that higher status increases our sense of control and opens multiple options in life, which in turn means more chances of exploring our STORIES and creating happiness.Take a look around. People with the highest status are the ones who are highly educated, have great skills, are pro at networking, and/or are filthy rich. And quite unsurprisingly, they are the ones with the most experience, as well. But, that's not where...
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About the Author
James Wallman is a cultural commentator and trend forecaster, the Sector Specialist on the Experience Economy for the UK government, one of the worldwide top 101 influencers in Employee Engagement, and the international bestselling author of Stuffocation. He has written for GQ, the New York Times and the FT, and appeared on the BBC, the ABC and MSNBC. He runs a boutique trend forecasting firm whose clients range from KFC to KPMG, Yell and Eventbrite. He has studied at the universities of Oxford and Cambridge. He has spoken at Google HQ in California, the Collision Conference in Las Vegas, the London School of Economics, the Royal Academy, the Royal Society of the Arts, and 10 Downing Street. He has hosted Guardian Masterclasses, and run courses at the School of Life in London and Antwerp. He is an ambassador for the charity Global Action Plan. He has lived in France, Greece and California, and he currently lives in London with his wife and two children.
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