The Old Farmer's Almanac 2015 by Old Farmer's Almanac Page A
Authors: Old Farmer's Almanac
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the fog is injurious to the lungs.
Special Report: Where Does the Time Go?
A lot of time goes to just living
WE SLEEP
As any good mattress salesperson will tell you, you’re going to spend a third of your lifetime sleeping: On average, Americans sleep for 26 years; Canadians, 27 years.
WE WORK
If you work a 40-hour week from age 22 to age 65 (with a 2-week vacation each year), you’ll have spent 9 years, 10 months on the job. Surprised that this number is so low? Weekends make a big difference. A 40-hour workweek is less than a quarter of the 168 hours in the week.
WE COMMUTE
Americans and Canadians are now likely to spend a little over a year of their lives commuting to and from work, at the current average of 52 minutes per day.
In the United States, New Yorkers and Marylanders spend the most time commuting; North Dakotans, the least.
WE COOK AND CLEAN
We give over about 2 hours of every day to housework. The average American woman will spend 6 years of her life doing housework; the average American man, 3 years, 8 months.
The average Canadian woman will devote 6 years, 9 months to the task; the average Canadian man, almost exactly 4 years.
WE WATCH TV
Over a lifetime, Americans will spend 9 years, 2 months watching TV, at the current average of 2.8 hours a day. Canadians will spend 7 years, 6 months watching TV, an average of 2.2 hours a day.
Time passes ... and we underestimate how quickly.
Think supply and demand: Our demand for time is unlimited, so the supply often seems to come up short—even over short intervals. Most people underestimate time intervals by an average of 7 minutes per hour.
Our estimate of how much time has passed might be off by more than 7 minutes, depending on what we’re doing. Compare the 1-hour back massage and the 1-hour root canal.
According to research from Laval University in Quebec, time passes most quickly when we’re absorbed in an activity; time passes most slowly when we’re thinking specifically about how long something is taking—perhaps most often when we’re waiting. That’s why “the watched pot never boils,” even though the watched pot actually takes 9 1/2 minutes to boil, just the same as that pot that boiled (and then boiled dry!) while you were on the phone with your sister.
Time lags when it doesn’t match our type.
Research has shown that individuals vary widely in their personal chronotype, the daily rhythm that is most natural for their bodies to follow.
Time management advice often emphasizes early rising, and most cultures have an “early bird” saying like this one from Russia: “The early riser gathers mushrooms, the sleepy and lazy one goes later for the nettles.”
German biologist Till Roenneberg, who studies body clocks, argues that in our 24/7, industrialized world, early bird proverbs no longer hold true and that an early schedule can do more harm than good for some people. Living on a schedule that doesn’t fit your chronotype can leave you tired all the time, even if you’re getting enough sleep. Roenneberg calls this phenomenon “social jet lag.”
Time tries to keep pace.
For many modern Americans and Canadians, especially city-dwellers, living with a long to-do list makes time seem to pass more quickly. Social psychologist Robert Levine, a specialist in this topic, has quantified “pace of life” through research in cities and other areas all over the world, noting, for example, how quickly people walk and how long it takes to buy a postage stamp. The results contain some surprises:
Boston is the fastest-paced American city, followed by Buffalo, New York City, and Salt Lake City.
As a nation, due to a much slower pace in small towns and rural areas, the United States comes in 16th in pace-of-life when compared with other nations. Canada comes in 17th.
Switzerland, Ireland, Germany, and Japan, in that order, were fastest.
The slowest-paced nations were Brazil,
Special Report: Where Does the Time Go?
A lot of time goes to just living
WE SLEEP
As any good mattress salesperson will tell you, you’re going to spend a third of your lifetime sleeping: On average, Americans sleep for 26 years; Canadians, 27 years.
WE WORK
If you work a 40-hour week from age 22 to age 65 (with a 2-week vacation each year), you’ll have spent 9 years, 10 months on the job. Surprised that this number is so low? Weekends make a big difference. A 40-hour workweek is less than a quarter of the 168 hours in the week.
WE COMMUTE
Americans and Canadians are now likely to spend a little over a year of their lives commuting to and from work, at the current average of 52 minutes per day.
In the United States, New Yorkers and Marylanders spend the most time commuting; North Dakotans, the least.
WE COOK AND CLEAN
We give over about 2 hours of every day to housework. The average American woman will spend 6 years of her life doing housework; the average American man, 3 years, 8 months.
The average Canadian woman will devote 6 years, 9 months to the task; the average Canadian man, almost exactly 4 years.
WE WATCH TV
Over a lifetime, Americans will spend 9 years, 2 months watching TV, at the current average of 2.8 hours a day. Canadians will spend 7 years, 6 months watching TV, an average of 2.2 hours a day.
Time passes ... and we underestimate how quickly.
Think supply and demand: Our demand for time is unlimited, so the supply often seems to come up short—even over short intervals. Most people underestimate time intervals by an average of 7 minutes per hour.
Our estimate of how much time has passed might be off by more than 7 minutes, depending on what we’re doing. Compare the 1-hour back massage and the 1-hour root canal.
According to research from Laval University in Quebec, time passes most quickly when we’re absorbed in an activity; time passes most slowly when we’re thinking specifically about how long something is taking—perhaps most often when we’re waiting. That’s why “the watched pot never boils,” even though the watched pot actually takes 9 1/2 minutes to boil, just the same as that pot that boiled (and then boiled dry!) while you were on the phone with your sister.
Time lags when it doesn’t match our type.
Research has shown that individuals vary widely in their personal chronotype, the daily rhythm that is most natural for their bodies to follow.
Time management advice often emphasizes early rising, and most cultures have an “early bird” saying like this one from Russia: “The early riser gathers mushrooms, the sleepy and lazy one goes later for the nettles.”
German biologist Till Roenneberg, who studies body clocks, argues that in our 24/7, industrialized world, early bird proverbs no longer hold true and that an early schedule can do more harm than good for some people. Living on a schedule that doesn’t fit your chronotype can leave you tired all the time, even if you’re getting enough sleep. Roenneberg calls this phenomenon “social jet lag.”
Time tries to keep pace.
For many modern Americans and Canadians, especially city-dwellers, living with a long to-do list makes time seem to pass more quickly. Social psychologist Robert Levine, a specialist in this topic, has quantified “pace of life” through research in cities and other areas all over the world, noting, for example, how quickly people walk and how long it takes to buy a postage stamp. The results contain some surprises:
Boston is the fastest-paced American city, followed by Buffalo, New York City, and Salt Lake City.
As a nation, due to a much slower pace in small towns and rural areas, the United States comes in 16th in pace-of-life when compared with other nations. Canada comes in 17th.
Switzerland, Ireland, Germany, and Japan, in that order, were fastest.
The slowest-paced nations were Brazil,
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