Is our happiness dependent on time?

 According to Merriam Webster; Happiness is defined as a state of well being and contentment, it has also been defined as having good fortune. In today’s society, happiness can be defined as whatever it means to you, as we all have our own concepts and idea of what happiness is. Whatever makes you happy or feel content may not be the same for someone else. However, with the ever changing concept of what happiness is, can someone really fully be content or have full well being? Are we too caught up with our ever changing society that we have to find ways and means of obtaining or finding happiness which makes time seem scarce and in the end we still end up unhappy?

Many say that time and time management play a pivotal role in the way we try to add happiness in our lives, as many times we use the excuse that there isn’t sufficient time in the day to do anything that makes us happy as we are caught up with our daily schedules. Why it is that time seems to be a problem and why is it that all this extra effort we put into trying to make ourselves happy still ends up making us unhappy? To answer this burning question, a study conducted by Kim and Maglio investigates how seeking happiness influences perceptions of time availability, by breaking down the study into four different branches; study 1 investigated trait level happiness seeking and time scarcity, study 2 achieved vs. un achieved happiness and time scarcity, study 3 demanding versus non demanding happiness and time scarcity and study 4 the role of time scarcity in the pursuit of happiness.

In the four tests conducted researchers try to prove the hypothesis that time plays a role in the relationship between seeking happiness and reduced happiness. In order to achieve this goal, researchers used the Hayes (2012, Model 4) PROCESS procedure and corresponding SPSS macro. In all four studies, researchers' main findings showed that a person's perception of time scarcity is influenced by their pursuit of (often unattainable) happiness. Researchers used a variety of tests to tests their hypothesis, some ranging from movie effects, questionnaires and more. Moreover, participants were recruited from universities and Amazon Mechanical Turks, and the responses they received were more than they expected. A 1,000 bootstrap re-sample revealed a reliable indirect effect of condition on happiness through time scarcity.

It’s not uncommon for anyone to feel pressured when it comes to seeking happiness as this is something we all posses; however for some it’s much easier to engage than others. It’s also not uncommon for time to be used as a hindering factor when it comes to seeking happiness. However, have we ever taken a moment to think, look around and see that achieving the goal of happiness does not need much effort? Researchers explained that "Time seems to vanish amid the pursuit of happiness, but only when seen as a goal requiring continued pursuit."

  While I agree to a certain extent with the above statement, I believe that happiness can be achieved everyday by doing some of the simplest things that to me shouldn’t be measured by time or where time shouldn’t be an issue. Taking some time off, having a break, making your favorite foods, drinks or snacks. Watching your favorite movies, TV shows, reading a novel, taking a walk etc. These are all things which I do and it makes me happy and time does not affect that. I think the problem lies when we search for the ‘extra effort’ things/activities to make us happy, instead of doing the things which have been making us happy without us realizing it or putting much effort to achieve ,makes time feel scarce and makes happiness seeking a task. There are 365 days in a year; however, treating every single day like our last 365 days makes our happiness worthwhile. Happiness shouldn’t be a task!

References
https://link.springer.com/article/10.3758%2Fs13423-018-1436-7
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/03/180312104036.htm