I was inspired by a twitter post from datavisualizations.net where data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics was charted to show where Americans spend their time during the day.
I took a more primitive view of this data by charting the major activities on average.
Where do we spend our time?
I would challenge you to identify where you spend your own time. From this self-inspection, we can ask further questions.
- Am I happy performing this activity?
- If I could perform less time in an activity, which one would I do less of and why?
The future represents the possibility of a greater amount of self-selection regarding our application of time and activities to areas that we find more fulfilling, provide more benefits to society, and make us ultimately more healthy.
The potential of technological advances frees us (and perhaps forces us) to make decisions about where we spend our time while also opening up new possibilities that we otherwise would not have been able to experience.
Whether it is reading one more book that you would not have had a chance to see, or spending additional hours with your friends and family removing activities that are unwanted starts with a focus on our own future and an understanding of our human limitations.
Major and Minor activities of time spent during a 24 hour day
- Personal care activities
- Sleeping
- Eating and drinking
- Household activities
- Housework, Food prep, Lawn/garden care
- Purchasing goods and services
- Goods and services
- Caring for and helping household members
- Childcare
- Caring for and helping nonhousehold members
- Adultcare
- Working and work-related activities
- Educational activities
- Classes and homework
- Organizational, civic, and religious activities
- Leisure and sports
- Socializing, TV, exercise
- Telephone calls, mail, and e-mail
- Other activities, not elsewhere classified
Image from http://www.datavisualisations.net/