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Well said Sandman, well said.  Were he still with us today (his “time” was up in 1967) chances are Mr. Sandburg would be less than impressed with how Americans spend their time.

Americans love to watch television. From reality TV to late-night talk shows, from sitcoms to dramas, we spend, on average, three hours a day in front of the television. That's the word from 24/7 Wall Street, which analyzed data from the 2012 American Time Use Survey published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics to find out just what it is we're do in our leisure time when we're not working or sleeping.

How we use our time:

1. Personal care activities (includes sleeping)

  • Average time spent: 9.49 hours
  • Americans engaged on a given day: 100 percent

2. Leisure and sports (includes watching TV)

  • Average time spent: 5.37 hours
  • Americans engaged on a given day: 96.2 percent

3. Household activities

  • Average time spent: 1.74 hours
  • Americans engaged on a given day: 73.7 percent

4. Eating and drinking

  • Average time spent: 1.25 hours
  • Americans engaged on a given day: 96 percent

5. Purchasing goods and services in brick-and-mortar stores

  • Average time spent: 0.72 hours
  • Americans engaged on a given day: 41.4 percent

6. Caring for and helping household members (includes child care)

  • Average time spent: 0.51 hours
  • Americans engaged on a given day: 24.5 percent

7. Educational activities

  • Average time spent: 0.5 hours
  • Americans engaged on a given day: 8.5 percent

8. Organizational, civic and religious activities

  • Average time spent: 0.32 hours
  • Americans engaged on a given day: 13.8 percent

Other facts to know and tell about how we use our time:

  • Americans watch television for nearly three hours a day, on average, making it the most common leisure activity.
  • We spend 9.5 hours doing personal care activities, which includes sleeping an average of 8 hours, 44 minutes.
  • Men spend just 17 minutes a day on household activities, while women pick up the slack, spending a little more than two hours cleaning house, cooking and mowing the lawn. However, of the men who worked on the lawn or garden, they spent 38 percent more time on the task than women.
  • Women spend 50 minutes a day shopping, compared with the 36 minutes a day men shop. The time spent shopping decreases annually as more choose to shop online instead of in brick-and-mortar stores.
  • Men spend 25 minutes a day on recreation, sports and exercise, while women squeeze in just 14 minutes a day on these activities.
  • Those age 75 and up savor their food and drink, spending more than an hour and a half daily eating meals, compared with busy teenagers and young 20-somethings who spend just an hour wolfing down their food.
  • Nearly 25 percent of women care for children during an average day, compared to just 15.6 percent of men.

Another poet and performer, the late great Jim Croce closes out our time together with his thoughts on time-

“but there never seems to be enough time to do the things you want to do once you find them…I’ve looked around enough to know that you’re the one I want to go through time with.

Thanks for your time!

 

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