At the stroke of midnight tomorrow night, 2023 will begin. There will be 365 days in the new year. That means we have 8,760 hours, or 525,600 minutes, or 31,536,000 seconds before the year ends. What do you plan to do with your time? According to a Department of Labor report, we will spend an average of 8 hours and 33 minutes a day sleeping.
For most of us, work takes up the largest chunk of our waking hours. Many of us work a 40-hour week. Others work longer. Some of us work a lot of overtime, or have more than one job, leaving little time for other things. The survey tells us that 89% of people with full-time jobs spend an average of 8 1/2 weekday hours at work each day. 31% work an average of 5 hours and 24 minutes on weekends.
Learning is the key to success. We average 28 minutes a day with educational activities.
What about household chores. The survey shows that Americans spend on average about 18 minutes a day on house cleaning with an additional 11 minutes a day doing laundry. We average 34 minutes a day preparing meals and cleaning up after. We spend about 14 minutes a day doing indoor and outdoor home repairs, including lawn care, mowing, weeding, fertilizing. People in charge of household finances, paying the bills, doing taxes, etc., work their financial magic for 45 minutes a day.
Of course, we all need to unwind at some point. On a typical weekday, we spend 4 hours and 43 minutes engaged in leisure activities. That includes
- Watching TV – an average of 2 hours, 48 minutes a day.
- Socializing – On weekdays we average around 24 minutes at social events. On weekends and holidays, about 59 minutes.
- Exercise and Sports. We know how important it is to keep the body in shape. Men spent 1 hour 42 minutes working out or playing sports. Women exercised or played sports for an hour and 18 minutes.
- Eating and Drinking. We averaged about an hour and 11 minutes for meals and snacks.
- Shopping. We average 46 minutes a day grocery shopping. Americans spend about 50 minutes a day shopping for other things.
- Reading. Americans age 15-54 spend 10 minutes or less reading for personal interest. Senior citizens read more. People 75 or older read an average of 48 minutes a day.
Parents with at least one child under the age of 6 spend an average of 2 hours, 9 minutes caring for and helping children. Men take care of children for about an hour and 18 minutes a day. Women spend about 2 hours and 49 minutes. Parents of children between the ages of 6 and 12 spend about an hour caring for the kiddos. Folks read to their kids an average of 28 minutes a day. Americans play with their youngsters for about an hour and 43 minutes a day. People spend just under an hour a day helping their kids with homework. Parents with children between 6- and 17-years old average about 6 minutes a day going to school plays, baseball or soccer games, and other functions.
With all that going on, is it any wonder we are so tired?
Finally, on average Americans spend 51 minutes a day grooming but only about 18 minutes a day volunteering or participating in religious activities. That means we spend almost 3 times longer on our outward appearance than we do on our inward. There is an entire sermon in that.
So, how do you plan to spend your 525,600 minutes in 2023? Sleeping, eating, caring for kids or grandkids? Those are all good things. But let me challenge you to spend time every day with God. Being in church, reading your Bible and praying daily, serving the church and community are all wonderful ways to spend your time. The best part of spending your time with God is the blessing you will get. Who doesn’t have time for that?
I hope you will spend an hour of your time at church on Sunday.