It turns out that money can buy you happiness and increase your life satisfaction simply by paying someone to do your housework. Not only does this free up your time to do something you’d rather be doing but it also will ease your stress burden and allow you feel like you have more control over your day.
THE SCIENCE
Although we have more technology than ever before to help us manage our work and lives we feel greater time poverty from living in this ever-connected world. Work follows us home, our phones are constantly chirping at us and it’s all too easy to get busy and not have any down time. A new study published in the journal PNAS, Buying time promotes happiness, found that by using money to buy free time by paying for a house cleaning service for example or getting someone to mow your lawn, can increase your life satisfaction. “People often complain of being in a time bind not only because they are objectively busy, but also because they perceive a lack of control over their time” said UBC psychology professor and the study’s senior author Elizabeth Dunn.
FEELING GUILTY
But I should be able to clean my home myself shouldn’t I? My mom used to be able to do it so why wouldn’t I do it too? This is a very common way to feel but as it turns out, just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should. “People who hire a housecleaner or pay the kid next door to mow the lawn might feel like they’re being lazy,” said study lead author Ashley Whillans, assistant professor at Harvard Business School who carried out the research as a PhD candidate in the UBC department of psychology. “But our results suggest that buying time has similar benefits for happiness as having more money.”
DIY CLEANING
Maintaining a professionally cleaned home versus doing all the cleaning yourself are two very different things. When maintaining a clean home, a few minutes a day is all you need to keep things tidy and you have the peace of mind that comes with knowing your professional housekeeper is coming soon. When it’s just you responsible for all the cleaning it’s easy to let things slide until friends or family are coming to visit and you end up having to spend your entire weekend mopping and scrubbing.
HIRING A MAID SERVICE
Something magical happens after your first deep house cleaning when you look around at the shiny floors, the gleaming kitchen counter and sparkly appliances. All of a sudden you can breathe easier, not just because all the dust is gone but because living in a house in constant need of cleaning was stressing you out and now that worry has been lifted. “Buying time may serve as a buffer against the negative effects of time stress in part by enhancing perceived control,” say the study’s authors. “People often complain of being in a time bind not only because they are objectively busy, but also because they perceive a lack of control over their time.”
Want to feel happier and get more time back? MAIDCheer Cleaning Services is here to help with house cleaning services in London Ontario you can rely on.
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