How helping others can put more hours into your day by making you feel like you have more spare time

Daily Mail:

If you’re always feeling there aren’t enough hours in the day, the answer could be to do a favour for someone else, say scientists.

Despite the fact it involves giving up some of that precious time, devoting a few hours or even just minutes to others can make us feel as if we actually have more free time, a study claims.

Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania compared the effects of ‘chillaxing’, or wasting time, and giving time – for example, writing a letter to a sick child.

They found that those who did the latter felt they had more time on their hands, reports the journal Psychological Science.

Study leader Cassie Mogilner believes this is because giving away time boosts one’s sense of personal competence and efficiency, and this stretches out time in our minds.

She said: ‘Our results demonstrate that the way time is spent can also impact time-perception.

‘When individuals feel time-constrained, they should become more generous with their time despite their inclination to be less so.’

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