Happier Hour is a non-fiction book written by Cassie Holmes, who is a professor of Behavioral Decision Making at UCLA. The book is about how to make the most of the hours we have in a day. I’m sharing some notes I took while reading, so these are just highlights of what stood out to me. I highly recommend reading the book if time management is a topic that interest you, because there’s so much more in the book than what I’ve written here. Keep reading for my review of Happier Hour by Cassie Holmes.
Synopsis
Advice for making the most of your time, and becoming happier because of it:
1. Track how you spend every hour of your day. You may be spending a lot of time on things you don’t value.
2. Get enough sleep. Sleeping less may give you more hours to get things done, but the quality of those hours will decrease if you are not getting enough good sleep.
3. Outsource chores: spend money to buy time. For example, if you value spending time with your family on Saturday, outsource some of the housework by paying a house cleaner periodically so you can do a family activity instead. Make sure that the way you are spending your time reflects the priorities you have.
4. Bundle an activity you don’t enjoy with one you do: exercise while listening to a book you like, fold laundry while you watch an episode of your favorite show, etc.
5. Tracking how much of an activity you have left in your life (walks with your dog, dinners with your parents) can help you to cherish that activity more. When you are no longer able to do that activity, you will likely wish you had enjoyed it while you had it. “you don’t know what you got ’til it’s gone” doesn’t have to be true for you.
6. People are less happy when they are distracted. Track how much time you are spending on screens and set boundaries with yourself so you can give your undivided attention to the people/things/activities you value most.
Thoughts
I thought this book had a lot of good, practical information. The author’s suggestions were realistic and applicable. It was a self-help book that actually felt helpful, not overwhelming or redundant. I’d definitely recommend it!
More Reviews
You can get your own copy of this book here. If you liked this review of Happier Hour by Cassie Holmes, you can read more book reviews here.
