Studies in 2021 show that a record number of people will quit their jobs as a result of the “I live to work or I work to live” thinking, while trying to find balance in their lives to become happier.
Certainly work is directly and positively related to the general well-being of man and constitutes a large part of his identity providing him with feelings of adequacy and well-being. Essentially, pursuing something contributes to happiness even when we think that having free time is preferable.
Scientists categorize happiness into three categories:
- The Blissful Happiness
- The hedonistic happiness
- Empirical happiness
The Blissful happiness
Blissful Happiness is that associated with optimizing functionality and realizing our potential. Many studies have shown that work and effort are central concepts of blissful happiness, providing an answer to the satisfaction and pride that people feel when they complete a difficult task.
The Hedonistic hapiness
Hedonistic happiness is defined as the presence of positive emotions such as happiness and elimination or the rare occurrence of negative emotions such as sadness and anger. Hedonistic happiness is achieved through free time offering mental and physical health benefits.
However, studies show that hedonistic happiness is lost when our free time exceeds the limit of 5 hours in the day. In the long run, if a person is not busy with something and has plenty of free time every day it does not help to achieve happiness and prosperity in the long run. People who engage in demanding activities in their spare time usually talk about fulfilling personal goals, progress and accumulation of achievements that characterize empirical happiness and not the hedonistic happiness associated with leisure.
The Empirical Hapiness
What is now discernible through studies is a new conception of well-being that comes from empirical happiness. Empirical happiness is achieved when there is a life with rich and varied empirical happiness and is the middle ground between blissful and hedonistic happiness.
The real balance between work and life to achieve long-term happiness is choosing the lifestyle that suits you. Surely if you love the work you do you will be happy and there will be free time to deal with what relaxes you.
