Ever notice that when you parcel out fate of your workweek for “ fun , ” you ’re less potential to relish these point of free time ? You ’re not imagining things . According toReal Simple , raw enquiry paint a picture that programing leisure time activities in procession — go to the park , meeting a friend for drinks , etc.—actually detracts from their joy .
Gabriela Tonietto , a doctoral campaigner in marketing at Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis , and Selin Malkoc , the school ’s associate professor of selling , conducted multiple study to guess how assigning times and engagement to relaxing pursuits changes how we go through them . In one of these studies , researchers offered free cookie and coffee to students take for test , AskMen save . Some were told to cull up the goody any time between 6 and 8 p.m. , while others had to show up at a sure meter to get the completing treats . think what ? The student who had to “ plan ” their snack break in advance revel it less .
The full resolution , which are forthcoming in theJournal of Marketing Research , suggest that we calculate forward to — and appreciate — spontaneous activities far more than penciled - in interest . " look at a multifariousness of unlike leisure activities , we systematically find out that scheduling can make these otherwise fun tasks feel more like work and decrease how much we bask them , " Toniettosaid in a statement .
Ca n’t impart your planner at the office on weekend ? Tonietto and Malko urge finding a happy medium . Designate leisure activities for certain days , but do n’t allot them a specific clip . That way , they will find more serendipitous and not like a pre - assigned task .
" We come up that the detriment of programing leisure time stems from how structured that time feels , " Tonietto said . " While we may tend to think of programing in integrated term by referring to specific times — such as grabbing coffee at 3 p.m.—we can also schedule our prison term in a rougher personal manner by referring less specifically to fourth dimension — grabbing coffee in the good afternoon . ”
Want to learn more ? Watch the above interview with Tonietto , courtesy ofWashington University in St. Louis .
[ h / tReal Simple ]
