--- ## Highlights _Time Smart: How to Reclaim Your Time and Live a Happier Life._ Ashley studies one side of the time problem, the one that busy strivers face—those who try to make the most out of every waking moment ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gkfv5hhmee7a9032kfn62ycy)) individuals in those groups who make less money are more time poor, because the system is working against their time affluence. They live further away from their places of employment. They have shift schedules that are constantly changing. They have less reliable access to transportation and childcare. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gkwr3yc1m85f6jvx1f2mv0d3)) “I thought when my kids moved out and went to college that I would finally get around to doing those hobbies that I always had wanted to do. And instead, I just filled those additional hours with work, and I don’t know why.” ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gkwr4qtsk2a8sdm994kr55j4)) it is like we have to almost retrain ourselves to have leisure as a habit, so that our defaults are not work emails, work meetings—but instead our defaults are family, friends, exercise, active leisure activities. And we really, especially in North American culture, need to be pushing against work as our default mode of operating. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gkwr5c0scek46kes8wv04jjw)) That was my ideal self, and my actual time use looked pretty close to that. And then I realized: That might be good on one dimension of my life productivity and really hurt other dimensions of my life—well-being, social relationships—that I know as a happiness researcher matter a lot for happiness. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gkwr6775d5n0vmx3321mxdhv)) You can overschedule your leisure in such a way that it becomes a task. Now, when I schedule my leisure too rigidly, I find that I start to get stressed out when things start to impinge on it. Part of the benefit that you’re getting cognitively and psychologically is more flexibility in your life and less rigidness in your life, right? ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gkwr8agpekzn93wrwwbwm1r4)) Yeah, do a time audit. At the end of the day, ask yourself: What things did you do across the day, and how did you feel while you were engaging those activities? And then look at which activities brought you the most positive mood. You could also do this through gratitude ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gkwrd31zb5kx6t7zky1wyja6)) - 💭 see what activities make you most happy and fulfilled