Need More Time? Try Giving Some Away

• Spending time on others, rather than on yourself, makes time seem more plentiful.
• As time becomes more precious with age, we’re more likely to find happiness through ordinary, rather than extraordinary, moments.

If you’re feeling time-crunched, take this test. It’s a lovely Saturday morning. You’ve had a crazy, busy week, and you have two options for your day. Option number one: getting a massage. Option number two: cutting your elderly neighbor’s grass. It’s a no-brainer, right? You choose the massage. Duh.

But wait. While the massage is certainly more relaxing, you’ll feel less time-constrained if you mow your neighbor’s lawn. Why? People who help others feel like they have more time — a condition known as “time affluence” — than those who don’t lend a hand, according to a study by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania, Harvard University and Yale University.

In one of four experiments for the study, half of the participants spent 30 minutes doing something for someone else. One woman cooked her husband's favorite dinner. Another wrote a letter to her grandmother. Others shoveled snow for neighbors or picked up litter in a park. The remaining participants spent 30 minutes on themselves, which included such ah-inducing activities as taking a bubble bath, getting a pedicure, lounging on the couch or reading a book. The result? The people who spent the half hour focusing on someone else felt like they had more time than the group who indulged in personal pleasures.

“When people give their time to others, it makes them feel effective,” says lead author Cassie Mogilner Holmes, professor of marketing at UCLA Anderson School of Management (a professor at Penn when she conducted the studies). “Those who gave their time away felt like they accomplished a lot, so they perceived themselves as having more time. The more you do within a given period of time, the longer that time period seems to be.”

Experiencing awe, creating time

A similar time-bending phenomenon can occur when we experience a sense of awe. In a study published in Psychological Science, subjects who wrote about a personal experience that evoked awe or happiness, or who were exposed to wow-inducing footage — such as the Grand Canyon or the aurora borealis — felt like they had more time. Awe changes how we perceive time, the researchers found, creating the sense that it is slowing down.

As we age, however, those jaw-dropping experiences become less important, according to another study cowritten by Holmes. Time becomes more precious, and because of that, older participants were more likely to find happiness from ordinary experiences, such as drinking a glass of wine or spending time with family. Conversely, younger subjects found greater happiness in extraordinary moments, such as exciting vacations. “As a resource like time becomes scarce, it feels more valuable,” says Holmes. That means the older we get, the more likely we are to savor even mundane moments.

Time is also a commodity — and buying it can make you happier. In another study, researchers from Harvard Business School and the University of British Columbia discovered that people experienced greater satisfaction with life when they spent money on time-saving, chore-reducing services such as housecleaning and cooking, rather than on material goods.

“To the extent that time-saving purchases help us feel in control of our daily demands, they help to promote happiness,” explains researcher Ashley Whillans, an assistant professor at Harvard Business School. And yet, most people don’t hire help, she adds, even when they can afford it. One reason may be guilt, which can undermine not only people’s willingness to spend money on time-saving purchases but also their happiness if they do spend the money, says Whillans.

So how much extra time do we need to feel happy? About an hour a day, according to research from Holmes. “Once you pass an hour, happiness levels out,” she says. And if you want to feel time affluent instead of time deficient, your best option is still a simple one. Do something nice for someone.