--- title: How to Have the Most Fun in Your Free Time, According to Science description: Scheduling leisure activities may help get them done, but make you enjoy them less. Here's how to maximize fun in your free time. canonical: https://time.com/5331721/enjoy-leisure-activities-study/ author: Jamie Ducharme article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-07-06T19:33:10.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:04:02.002Z article:section: Health og:title: How to Have the Most Fun in Your Free Time og:description: According to science og:url: https://time.com/5331721/enjoy-leisure-activities-study/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt170715d81923d5fb/6988cc2697cdff88c16b0923/melting-clocks-illo.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2880 og:image:height: 1620 og:image:alt: 170505_time management melting clocks og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How to Have the Most Fun in Your Free Time twitter:description: According to science twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt170715d81923d5fb/6988cc2697cdff88c16b0923/melting-clocks-illo.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # How to Have the Most Fun in Your Free Time, According to Science > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Health Matters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Health Matters is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. The latest health news and expert advice on living well. Health Matters makes the fast-moving world of health more useful, surprising and human, from the latest science and medical breakthroughs to practical ideas for living better. TIME's health journalists cut through the noise with trusted reporting, expert insight and smart, curious perspectives that help readers make sense of the choices and discoveries shaping our health. 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Health Matters is TIME's daily health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free daily newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ## Video: 5 Ways to Actually Enjoy a Party When You Have Social Anxiety [Watch (HLS stream): 5 Ways to Actually Enjoy a Party When You Have Social Anxiety](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/C6VImLO1.m3u8) (2:21)  _Published 2017-11-15. Everyone has insecurities. But if you often find yourself worrying about what others think of your appearance, or you spend a lot of time sweating whether your peers actually like you, it’s possible you suffer from social anxiety._  by [Jamie Ducharme](https://time.com/author/jamie-ducharme/)  ## Jamie Ducharme Ducharme is a contributor to TIME. Jul 6, 2018 7:33 PM UTC  helllbilly–iStock/Getty Images  by [Jamie Ducharme](https://time.com/author/jamie-ducharme/)  ## Jamie Ducharme Ducharme is a contributor to TIME. Jul 6, 2018 7:33 PM UTC The calendar is an indispensable tool in our over-committed and over-stimulated culture, and one no longer reserved solely for work commitments and appointments. Many busy people, faced with ever-dwindling free time, resort to [scheduling everything from time with friends and family](http://time.com/money/5179179/michelle-obama-work-life-balance/) to [sex with a partner](http://www.health.com/sex/benefits-of-scheduling-sex). But is scheduling your free time a good idea? Researchers from Ohio State University’s Fisher College of Business and Rutgers Business School evaluated existing research (much of it their own) on time management tactics and how they affect the uptake, outcome and enjoyment of various activities. Many of their assessments, [which are published](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352250X18300551) in the journal _Current Opinion in Psychology_, are in line with conventional productivity wisdom. They determined that scheduling an activity [increases the likelihood that it’ll get done](http://time.com/4993521/productivity-energy-work/), for example, and that multitasking helps people achieve more, [but with spottier results](http://time.com/4737286/multitasking-mental-health-stress-texting-depression/). When it comes to enjoying leisure activities, however, the researchers found that classic time management strategies may backfire. Just as with work tasks or errands, science shows that getting fun activities on the calendar increases your chances of getting them done — but there’s a cost, according to the researchers’ analysis. Here’s how to plan your free time without sacrificing fun. ## Keep it vague [Studies have shown](http://journals.ama.org/doi/10.1509/jmr.14.0591?code=amma-site) that any amount of scheduling may reduce your enjoyment of leisure activities by disrupting their “free-flowing nature,” the researchers write. But if putting a friend date or shopping trip in your planner is the only way it’ll get done, keep the timing as loose as possible. The researchers suggest designating chunks of time rather than specific hours — “after work” is better than “at 6 p.m.,” for example. ## Give yourself time When you find yourself with an expanse of free time, it’s tempting to squeeze in as many fun activities as possible. But studies show that imposing a hard stop on a fun activity — even if it’s to start another pleasant thing — will subconsciously affect your ability to enjoy it while it’s happening. This phenomenon, the researchers write, may be related to our tendency to underestimate how much we can fit into blocks of time — hence why you may find yourself whittling away the 30 minutes before a meeting instead of starting a new task. When it comes to free time, letting the day unfold organically is a better strategy. ## Stay in the moment In a similar vein, the analysis showed that, independent of time pressure, the “mere knowledge of future upcoming activities may also undermine enjoyment,” perhaps because it takes participants out of the moment and splits their attention. The researchers recommend resisting the temptation to over-plan, and instead focusing on one activity at a time. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5331721/enjoy-leisure-activities-study/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5331721/enjoy-leisure-activities-study/"},"headline":"How to Have the Most Fun in Your Free Time, According to Science","datePublished":"2018-07-06T19:33:10.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T08:04:02.002Z","description":"Make your calendar more fun","url":"https://time.com/5331721/enjoy-leisure-activities-study/","keywords":["Mental Health/Psychology","onetime","Innovation Health","healthytime","Evergreen"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt170715d81923d5fb/6988cc2697cdff88c16b0923/melting-clocks-illo.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jamie Ducharme","jobTitle":"Ducharme is a contributor to TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/jamie-ducharme/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt170715d81923d5fb/6988cc2697cdff88c16b0923/melting-clocks-illo.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"170505_time management melting clocks","caption":"","creditText":"helllbilly–iStock/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5331721/enjoy-leisure-activities-study/","name":"How to Have the Most Fun in Your Free Time, According to Science"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"5 Ways to Actually Enjoy a Party When You Have Social Anxiety","description":"Everyone has insecurities. 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