252-How Freedom And Choice Affect Happiness: Our 6 Factor Series Part 3 of 6

Welcome to our 6-part series on the 6 categories that affect happiness the most.  Today we dive into category 3 of 6 - Freedom and Choice, so let’s go. 

 

Transcript:

 

Welcome to Everyday Happiness where we create lasting happiness, in 2 minutes a day,  through my signature method of Intentional Margins® (creating harmony between your to-dos and your priorities), happiness science, and musings about life. 

 

I'm your host Katie Jefcoat and the Happiness Research Institute in Denmark has developed factors they think affect someone's happiness. They have 6 factors that they group together, they are: health, relationships, freedom, trust, kindness and money.  Today we’re talking about freedom and choice.  Free will so to speak.  

 

One aspect of freedom that is often overlooked is freedom of time.  Episodes 57-64 talk about time affluence and even time confetti and if you haven’t listened to them, I encourage you to do so.  Time can be such a tricky thing - we all have the same amount and there is no hack to gain more time.  

 

The research indicates that regardless of how you spend your time, having control over your time leads to more happiness.   One way to do this is to identify your Intentional Margins®:  How do you want to spend your time?  What priorities are you placing on the activities taking up your time. 

 

Freedom of choice to do what you want, get what you want can be great, but there can also be agony of choice.  Have you ever walked into the cereal aisle at the grocery store and stood there for way too long wondering, pondering, deciding what to choose.  There are so many choices.  Too many choices can be debilitating.  

 

The research indicates that having too many choices doesn't make us happier.  We think having 200 different cereals to choose from in the cereal aisle will make us happier, but it doesn’t.  And this goes beyond cereal.  There is a study about jams, where there are two farmers market stands one has 24 jams and the other 6.  What they found was more people purchased from the stand with only 6 jams -- they said when people are faced with too many choices, they can’t make a choice, so the choice is to forego it all for perhaps, something better.    

 

So I invite you to think about how freedoms of time, autonomy and choice play a role in your happiness.  

 

Until next time, smash that subscribe button wherever you like to listen to podcasts, or sign up for text emails delivered right to your inbox at katiejefcoat.com/happiness  

 

This episode was inspired by The Happiness Research Institute in Copenhagen, Denmark and their happiness course, The Happy Course.  

 

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