Here’s a twist on the happiness puzzle: Take notice of how you don’t spend your time. A study published in the journal Social Indicators Research reports on “time diary” responses of 45,000 Americans over a span of 35 years. The diaries were part of a significant General Social Survey conducted by the University of Chicago. People who described themselves as happy reported watching less television than those who self-described as unhappy. TV viewing was the single activity the happier respondents engaged in less frequently than their unhappy cohorts. Of the 8 to 10 varied activities reported, only television viewing showed a negative relationship to happiness.
Although the study could not say whether TV viewing caused unhappiness or unhappy people just watched more, one thing is certain; TV viewing is a passive activity where a viewer’s control is limited to the remote control. Stepping away from the TV offers unexpected rewards. Those rewards start with taking back the time spent watching and redirecting it into living. What else might you *stop* doing in order to be happier today?