The tension between being too productive and being too bored begs the question: What is the optimal amount of free time for a good life?

Having unlimited free time is not always as incredible as we expected. Take, for example, retirees who dream of how happy they will be when they no longer have to go to work and have a lot of time for hobbies.

However, the reality is that many retirees enjoy the vacation at first, only to realize after a few weeks that they actually miss the job they left behind that gave them a sense of productivity, purpose, and meaning in their lives. Day after day, with as much free time as you have, you get old fast. On the other hand, being busy with work and other commitments from morning to night is not a good thing for our happiness, and this is because of the accumulated stress.

What amount of free time is optimal for a happy life?

Researchers tried to answer this question by interviewing tens of thousands of participants, collecting data on how they spent their time and how happy they were (Sharif, Mogilner & Hershfield 2021).

The results of their research made it possible to draw three key conclusions:

1. If you have less than two hours of free time a day, you feel too much stress and it prevents you from being happy.

After analyzing the data, the research team found that having less than two hours of free time a day is not enough for happiness. Participants who had less than two hours of free time per day reported increased stress, meaning they were simply too busy with work, errands, childcare or other concerns to maximize their happiness.

2. More than five hours of free time a day “robs” your sense of productivity, which reduces happiness.

Surprisingly, having a lot of free time is not an ace up your sleeve on the way to happiness. Humans get a certain sense of joy from being productive and accomplishing tasks/goals, and that sense of joy is lost when we spend all day lying on the beach or watching Netflix at home. While there is certainly a time and place to spend the day relaxing, having a constant amount of free time undermines happiness through boredom.

3. How we spend our free time matters.

The final result of the study was that two aspects are important when it comes to how we spend our free time. First, when free time is used more productively, such as playing a team sport or volunteering, five or more hours a day can support or even increase happiness. Second, free time spent socializing with others has the same positive effect, while spending five or more hours alone can affect people’s happiness.

Seniors who volunteer or join senior clubs are happier (Kelly & Ross 1989), and vacations with the right balance of stimulation (hiking, snorkeling, tours, etc.) and relaxation make us happiest. Surprisingly, more is not always better when it comes to recreation.

Conclusion: two hours or less per day is too little, five hours or more per day is too much, so two to five hours is the best option.

What other research says about the relationship between productivity and relaxation

Regardless of economic status, many working people—and especially those with children—feel short on time, wishing they had more free hours to devote to leisure (or even just sleep). At the same time, other studies have shown that people who are busy tend to be happier than those who are inactive, whether they are busy on purpose or not.

A research paper published in late 2022 explored this trade-off, trying to determine how much free time we really need. Its authors examined the relationship between the amount of “free time” people have—essentially, how much time people spend awake doing whatever they want—and how satisfied they are with their lives. (Some examples of “discretionary” activities are watching TV, socializing, going to the movies, spending time with family, and being inactive).

A study that analyzed data from 35,000 Americans found that employee ratings of life satisfaction peaked when they had about two and a half hours of free time per day. For people who did not work, four hours and 45 minutes was optimal.

“Every minute of ours is in one way or another subject to choice, consciously or unconsciously”

Daniel Hamermesh, an economist at the University of Texas at Austin who studies the use of time, believes that it is difficult to ascertain the relationship between leisure and life satisfaction.

First, some of the data analyzed in the paper were obtained by asking people to estimate how much free time they have, and these estimates may be unreliable. On the other hand, it is difficult to say systematically what qualifies as “discretionary” time and what does not.

“Every minute of our time is subject to choice in one way or another, consciously or not,” he notes. Although Hamermesh did not test the underlying data, he offered some possible (but, as he notes, difficult to test) explanations for the findings.

“Let’s say everyone around me has two hours of free time, and somehow I have four,” he says. “I don’t have any friends to spend it with.” His point is that people’s free time can be less fulfilling if they can’t spend it with others.