If you feel you are short on time, you are in the majority. A recent poll shows that 60 percent of Americans find they don’t have enough time to meet their daily needs. “Needs” translates to work, chores, errands, and — where we “cheat most” — our sleep.
How much more time do we think we need to meet our commitments? Only an additional four hours, we say.
If we were magically given four extra hours in our day, what would we do with our newly found time?
Two thousand adults weighed in on the question. Their responses?
—34 percent would knock out some chores.
—20 percent would get extra sleep.
—21 percent would go back to school.
—19 percent would adopt a pet.
According to the research team at Dave’s Killer Bread, who ran the study, “Americans have spoken: They are tired, and they have too much on their plate.”
This reality explains so much of our lives — at work, home, everywhere. Our time-pressured reality leads to new behaviors. If you want to converse with your children, do you just call them, like our parents did with us? Of course not.
First, you text them as I suggested to my husband the other night when he wanted to call one of our children.
“What happened to the simple days when you could just pick up the phone and see what’s up?” my husband said.
Those days no longer exist. Research suggests we like texting much more than talking. The ratio is 5 to 1, texting to talking, and only growing in disparity. Texting is faster, more convenient, and allows for more control over our schedules.
The thumbs-up and thumbs-down emojis have become a universal language. With one simple keystroke, we have a common understanding of a situation. Texting also spares us from having to answer the phone at an inconvenient time. I recognize the moment instantly. Instead of hearing, “Hi. How are you?” from someone I’ve called, I will hear a rushed or hushed voice ask, “Is this quick?”
“Is this quick?” is not an insult. It’s a simple statement, “Now doesn’t work. Can we slot this conversation for later?” Yes, scheduling matters more than ever.
We try to shave and manage time in all corners of our lives. When driving, do you hate red lights because they make you wait? Do you go out of your way to avoid them by choosing odd alternate routes? If you can’t avoid the red lights, have you achieved an understanding of where the shortest ones are? We have that resident expertise in my family.
We all have our places where we hope to gain some time back. One-pot dinners are in vogue. Why? Throw everything in a pot with some seasoning, and voila! Dinner is made with fewer dishes and almost no steps.
When we finally relax to a favorite show, how many of us speed through an advertisement? A study found that during a commercial break, 64 percent will grab their phone, 21 percent will change the channel, and 15 percent will leave the room to do something else. If you use a digital video recorder, it is estimated that nearly 90 percent skip through commercials. We are antsy.
Furthermore, the ads are annoyingly loud and not helpful if we want to relax. And then there are those who give up relaxation to multitask and keep their productivity going.
A most costly aspect of our rush-rush life is that we have become a sleep-deprived nation. It is estimated that only 26 percent of Americans report getting eight or more hours of sleep a night, while 20 percent report getting five hours or less. The CDC considers insufficient sleep a public health problem, affecting all ages — even our young kids.
The risks of insufficient sleep are well understood. Heart disease, obesity and mental health issues are only a few unfortunate byproducts. Tackling the problem is not easy. Our fast-paced hustle culture and the stress of keeping up lock us into an unhealthy lifestyle.
All our peculiar behaviors — as small as strategizing to avoid red lights to as large as trying to squeeze in some much-needed relaxation or sleep — suggest it is time to take a step back.
In Simon and Garfunkel’s song Hazy Shade of Winter, they sing,
“Time, time, time
See what’s become of me
While I looked around for my possibilities …”
What are our possibilities?
