I'm Elise Hugh. You're listening to TED Talks Daily. The relationship between time and happiness is Harvard business professor Ashley Willens's specialty. In her talk from another TED podcast, TEDx Shorts, she shares a few hacks to feel like we have more time, and in turn, more happiness.

I've already started doing some of these things to be more time-rich.

I hope you get as much out of it as I did.

Over 80% of working Americans today report feeling time-poor, like they have too many things to do in a day

and not enough time to do them. These rising rates of time poverty have crushing effects on our

happiness, our social relationships, and our physical health. Time poverty silences our laughter,

steals our joy, and depletes our personal well-being.

I'm a happiness researcher. I have a PhD in behavioral science. I wrote a 150-page dissertation

on the link between time stress and unhappiness. My life's work thus far has taught me this one simple truth.

Prioritizing time is really hard.

We are taught that money is our most valuable resource.

Our free time becomes time confetti,

thanks to our constant connection to our cell phones, and we say yes

way too often, in part because we think we're going to have more time in the future than we do

in the present. But luckily for us, the time rich among us make small, simple decisions in their

everyday lives that allow them to have more and better time. The timerich among us make small, simple decisions in their everyday lives that allow them to have

more and better time. The time-rich-among-us prioritized time over money. No matter how much money

they make, they're willing to give up some of their money in order to have more and better time.

They're also likely to take all of their paid vacations.

Now, this seems obvious, but many of us don't do it.

If your boss were to put a giant stack of money on the table in front of you,

you wouldn't walk away from it.

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