Sleep
Norbert Schwarz, et al., calculates “gross national happiness” by using the day reconstruction method in which people are asked to recollect memories of the previous working day by writing a short diary.
They are told to think of their day as a series of episodes in a film and are asked a series of questions about how they felt during each event or activity.
They then give a mark on their enjoyment of each episode on a scale of one to 6. The totals are divided by the number of hours taken by each activity to produce a simple score for the day.
The researchers assessed how 909 US working women felt during 28 types of activity and found that sex, relaxing with friends and having lunch with colleagues brought the most enjoyment. This was followed by watching television alone, shopping with a spouse and cooking on their own.
Commuting, housework and too much contact with their boss rated as the least pleasant activities.
Taking care of children was also among the less enjoyable activities.
Norbert Schwarz: “When we sample all the times that parents spend with their children, the picture is less positive than parents expect. Saying that you generally don’t enjoy spending time with your kids is terrible but admitting that they were a pain last night is quite acceptable.”
Women who slept poorly, on average, enjoyed their day as little as a typical person enjoys commuting. Those who usually slept well enjoyed their day as much as most people enjoy watching television. Tight work deadlines were also a powerful factor in upsetting women’s daily moods.
General life circumstances — such as wealth, job security, or whether someone is single or married — had a relatively small impact on happiness.
As long as the women were not battling poverty, income did not have an influence.
“[C]ommuting is a very negative experience that takes up considerable time every day. Income, however, has relatively little influence on daily feelings. You may be better off arranging for more sleep than working for a pay rise.”
People spent the bulk of their waking hours engaged in the activities they enjoyed the least, including work, housework and commuting.