Do you feel like you never have enough time? You probably don't.
Americans are more time-constrained than ever before, and that can make us an unhappy lot.
A study out of the University of Pennsylvania and UCLA says we should all have two-and-half-hours of free time each day. How important is it for us to kick back and relax a bit?
"Well, the thinking is that it's crucial," says Dr. Teresa Christian, a clinical psychologist with Ochsner Health Center in Covington. "The benefits of unplugging or having time free of obligations provides us so many emotional benefits."
She says we need time to decompress and reduce stress. And, apparently, two-and-half-hours is the perfect amount. Of course, that's not a hard and fast rule.
"Free time and unplugging is individualized," Dr. Christian says. "What provides each person with a positive recharge and a restart in stress management is going to be individual. It's time for yourself or with people that provide you positivity."
"The study does say two-and-half-hours is the optimal amount of time for free time. Is it realistic for people? Possibly. It's a good goal. But, many people are not able to completely discontinue two-and-half-hours a day from their responsibilities. So, any amount of time you can decompress would be important to achieve."
"What I urge people to do is to look at their daily life and see where they can fit in some time for themselves to decompress. It can be in a large chunk, it can be in large chunks, it could be in short time frames."
The study found folks with a greater proportion of their schedules consumed by obligations have less control over their lives and less time to socialize and engage in active leisure - two ways of spending time that are linked to happiness.
Dr. Christian says it's essential that we take some time to kick back and relax.
"It's necessary. We all need some aspect of free time to effectively engage in our responsibilities and the expectations that are on us. Because, at some point, we're not going to be productive if we don't decompress, in some way."
But, don't overdo it. She says too much idle time can have you lacking a sense of productivity and purpose. And, too much idle time provides a lot of time for worry and concern.