Pay A Housekeeper, Buy Happiness, Says New Research

All right, people: If you want to be happy, stop shopping for stuff in stores and start paying a housekeeper.

Harvard scientists, who have finally turned their attention to the important matter of freeing up my mornings, have found that if we pay someone to do our annoying chores (basically, if we buy ourselves extra time) we will be more satisfied with life.

Amen.

“People who hire a housecleaner or pay the kid next door to mow the lawn might feel like they’re being lazy,” said study lead author Ashley Whillans, assistant professor at Harvard Business School. “But our results suggest that buying time has similar benefits for happiness as having more money.”

This is not, I repeat not, just for those traveling in the elite Harvard circles. Rather, the researchers included all income levels and found it was true no matter how much – or how little – money a person earned.

“The benefits of buying time aren’t just for wealthy people,” said coauthor and University of British Columbia psychology professor Elizabeth Dunn. “We thought the effects might only hold up for people with quite a bit of disposable income, but to our surprise, we found the same effects across the income spectrum.”

They did a series of studies but in one, they pulled 60 adults and had them spend $40 on a time saving purchase on one weekend, and $40 on a material purchase on another weekend. Guess what happened? They all felt happier when they bought themselves time.

So now what do we say when asked what we want for our birthdays? A housekeeper, damnit! Or any of the other services listed below:

Lawn care services (Plus you can employ a neighborhood kid, maybe even your own…..)

Housekeeping help (Unless you’re my friend Liz, who makes her bed in the morning before using the bathroom so upon reentry she isn’t faced with the horror of untucked sheets. No paid house cleaner should undergo her scrutiny.)

Dog training (My kid dropped the ball after “sit.”)

Household repairs (When my husband “fixes” things, the handyman winds up charging twice as much.)

Car washing (whatever, it’s getting cold out.)

Grocery shopping (I might have saved Harvard the trouble of conducting this study with my personal reports involving Instacart and the enormous joy I feel paying the delivery fee and skipping the supermarket.)

Lice treatments (this is an expensive service but more effective than home treatments, which have you wanting to get rid of your complaining kid with the same intensity you want to banish the lice.)

Painting (you have to look at those walls for a loooooong time…..)

Pressure cleaning (it’s both satisfying and hazardous, depending on your skill level.)

Image credit: Anthony Tran via Unsplash

Brett Graff is the editor of TheHomeEconomist.com. Follow her on Twitter, find her on Facebook, and connect with her on Instagram.