--- title: Why Hanging Out at Home is Beneficial to Happiness description: Leisure time spent at home may actually be a more effective way to foster true, long-lasting happiness. canonical: https://time.com/4526901/home-time-key-to-family-happiness/ author: Real Simple article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-10-11T18:31:09.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T08:57:46.719Z article:section: Health og:title: Hanging Out at Home May Be the Key to Family Happiness og:description: Make the most of your "home time" og:url: https://time.com/4526901/home-time-key-to-family-happiness/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8cdcffc2ed84d526/69887b4b5f570f2323b1f68b/parenting-child-wooden-houses-relationships-advice-betterment.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2500 og:image:height: 1406 og:image:alt: parenting-child-wooden-houses-relationships-advice-betterment-motto-stock og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Hanging Out at Home May Be the Key to Family Happiness twitter:description: Make the most of your "home time" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8cdcffc2ed84d526/69887b4b5f570f2323b1f68b/parenting-child-wooden-houses-relationships-advice-betterment.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Key to Family Happiness Is Really Simple > Sponsored content. 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Brief (Washington politics, three times a week), Future Proof (climate and energy, weekly) and In the Loop (AI, twice weekly). All are free at time.com/newsletters and together reach more than 1.1 million engaged readers. #### Which TIME newsletter should I subscribe to? It depends on what you follow. For a daily briefing, The Brief. For health, Health Matters. For Washington politics, D.C. Brief. For AI and technology, In the Loop. For climate and energy as a business story, Future Proof. For culture recommendations, Worth Your Time. For how TIME's journalism gets made, Inside TIME. Readers can select any combination at time.com/newsletters. #### Are TIME's newsletters free? Yes. All seven TIME newsletters are free to join at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes TIME's newsletters? TIME journalists write them. Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. by [Amanda MacMillan / Real Simple](https://time.com/author/real-simple/) ## Amanda MacMillan / Real Simple Oct 11, 2016 6:31 PM UTC  Peechaya Burroughs for TIME by [Amanda MacMillan / Real Simple](https://time.com/author/real-simple/) ## Amanda MacMillan / Real Simple Oct 11, 2016 6:31 PM UTC Sometimes, it can seem like the only way to spend enjoyable time together as a family is to do something new and different—like taking a far-away vacation. But a new study offers some good news for families who aren’t going anywhere for a while: [Leisure time spent at home](http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/16078055.2016.1228154) may actually be a more effective way to foster true, long-lasting happiness. Yes, trying new experiences and visiting new places can be great for bonding with your kids. But when researchers at Baylor University surveyed more than 1,500 people about the types of family leisure they’d taken part in in the past year, they found that those who stayed home and participated in familiar activities more often were actually happier than those who’d ventured out and been more adventurous. “That may be because when the brain is focused on processing new information—such as taking part in an unfamiliar activity with unfamiliar people in a new location—less ‘brain power’ is available [to focus on the family relationships](http://newswise.com/articles/pleasant-family-leisure-at-home-may-satisfy-families-more-than-fun-together-elsewhere-study-finds),” lead author Karen K. Melton, Ph.D., assistant professor of child and family studies, said in a press release. **_Real Simple:_** [_Old-Fashioned Niceties That Deserve a Comeback_](http://www.realsimple.com/work-life/acts-of-kindness) Previous research has shown that people are more likely to feel truly engaged—a concept known as “flow”—when they’re participating in structured activities bounded by rules, rather than unstructured free time. Engagement is one of the three elements of happiness, the authors wrote in their study, along with positive emotion and meaning. All types of leisure activity have the potential to provide these elements and provide satisfaction within families, the authors wrote. But because time spent at home doing everyday activities can mimic this type of predictable, structured environment, they hypothesized that families would be more likely to achieve flow, or true engagement, during these seemingly mundane moments. The study, which included survey responses from both parents and their 11- to 15-year-old kids, didn’t examine exactly what families were doing in their homes—only whether their activities were familiar or unfamiliar. **_Real Simple:_** [_11 Fun Things to Do On a Rainy Day_](http://www.realsimple.com/health/mind-mood/fun-things-to-do-rainy-day) Melton noted that some experts recommend eating together as one of the best ways to bond as a family, and discourage passive activities like watching television. But families should question one-size-fits-all advice for happiness, she added. “For some families, quality togetherness is having dinner together or playing games; for others, it may be hobbies, videos or TV, music,” Melton said. “At the end of the day, what matters is that we are social beings who crave a sense of belonging and connectivity.” However, the authors did acknowledge a “discrepancy between best practices and reality.” In other words, not everyone will relate to the notion that staying home will bring them happiness and better relationships. **_Real Simple:_** [_The Only Parenting Advice You Really Need_](http://www.realsimple.com/work-life/family/kids-parenting/only-parenting-advice-you-really-need) That’s because families often confuse “home time” with “family time,” Melton told RealSimple.com, and they don’t always know how (or even try) to set rules about what constitutes quality time together. Her suggestion? During designated family times, reduce distractions that could take away from feelings of connectedness. “Families often add unfamiliarity or stimulation to their family time by multi-tasking, like playing board games but also checking social media posts,” she says. “Therefore, two common rules are no phones and no television as these are common distractions during family time. While kids—and possibly parents—may not like the idea of rules, providing boundaries around family time and during family time actually enhances the time together for everyone.” If you do have a getaway on the books, of course, there’s no need to cancel. “Other research has suggested that family vacations increase family closeness, so I highly suggest that families who have the time and resources consider taking a vacation,” Melton says. In fact, a common trend in family vacations—renting an entire home, through sites like HomeAway or VRBO—may provide the best of both worlds. “Families can intermix familiar home-like activities, such as cooking together or playing games together, with novel and exciting activities,” she says. _This_ [_article_](http://www.realsimple.com/work-life/family/kids-parenting/family-happiness-leisure-time) _originally appeared on_ [_RealSimple.com_](http://www.realsimple.com) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4526901/home-time-key-to-family-happiness/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4526901/home-time-key-to-family-happiness/"},"headline":"The Key to Family Happiness Is Really Simple","datePublished":"2016-10-11T18:31:09.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:57:46.719Z","description":"You just have to spend more time together at home","url":"https://time.com/4526901/home-time-key-to-family-happiness/","keywords":["Psychology","Living","Parenting","Family"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8cdcffc2ed84d526/69887b4b5f570f2323b1f68b/parenting-child-wooden-houses-relationships-advice-betterment.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Amanda MacMillan / Real Simple"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8cdcffc2ed84d526/69887b4b5f570f2323b1f68b/parenting-child-wooden-houses-relationships-advice-betterment.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"parenting-child-wooden-houses-relationships-advice-betterment-motto-stock","caption":"parenting child wooden houses relationships advice betterment motto stock","creditText":"Peechaya Burroughs for TIME","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":"/tag/psychology/","name":"Psychology"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4526901/home-time-key-to-family-happiness/","name":"The Key to Family Happiness Is Really Simple"}}]}] ```