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Print-style illustration of a delivered pair of grocery bags just inside the front door while someone reads, stretched out on a coral couch; a wall clock has one bright wedge of the hour shaded in.

PLATE X   Saturday, reclaimed. Groceries arrived.

NOTE 09 · CHAPTER II

The hour bought back

HABITAT    Grocery stores, kitchens, weekends

Working adults were given $40 on two weekends: once for something that saved them time, once for a material purchase. After the time-saving purchase, they reported better moods and less time pressure. Across surveys in four countries, people who paid to skip tasks they disliked were more satisfied with life. Yet when asked how they’d spend a windfall, almost no one thought of buying time.21

ALSO OBSERVED

Grocery delivery on a hard week, and the evening it hands back.

SOURCES    21Whillans et al. 2017 →

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