Comments on: Why Most People are Happier Working than in Their Free Time

By: Blue Magick Dogg

Blue Magick Dogg — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 15:04:14 +0000

This is a great article, and I appreciate the tips you give to overcoming obstacles. I’ve recently decided to delve into the topic of flow psychology after watching a friend help her depression with paint-by-number projects. She would tell me how she lost track of time and forgot that she was hungry. (She has been battling with weight gain all her life). Looking forward to more of your posts.

By: Happiness and Flow | Lynn Fang

Happiness and Flow | Lynn Fang — Thu, 20 May 2010 18:14:53 +0000

[...] new skills can be difficult to acquire. Scott Young recommends taking a class to overcome the initial frustration barrier. His idea of noncommittal [...]

By: shreevidya

shreevidya — Fri, 14 May 2010 06:54:55 +0000

Yes, I totally agree with you. As you mentioned in your blog- serious fun is more productive.

By: Victor

Victor — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 08:53:48 +0000

His last name is pronounced in English Cheek-Sent-Me-Hi-Ye.

Reference:
I have a Hungarian friend

By: Will Reaching the Ideal Life Make You any Happier? « Scott H Young

Will Reaching the Ideal Life Make You any Happier? « Scott H Young — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 10:51:02 +0000

[...] written before that research suggests people are often happier at work, even though they strive to avoid it. Mihály Csíkszentmihályi suggested this was due to flow: [...]

By: Why we are happy? « c# to javascript, actionscript

Why we are happy? « c# to javascript, actionscript — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 17:07:23 +0000

[...] People are happy when working while being in the flow. Leave a [...]

By: Craig Thomas

Craig Thomas — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 17:46:59 +0000

Nice post. I work in my free time – I love my work and I tend to be a rather happy chappy.

By: JohnnyBiggles

JohnnyBiggles — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 04:03:31 +0000

Great article and great research. Here’s food for thought, though: The reason why SO many people are miserable today is because of the LACK of challenge they need on their job- which would explain the overall state of mind of people across the U.S. I recently saw a statistic (Sept. 2009), where 1 out of every 2 workers has been with their current employer 5 yrs. or less, while 1 out of 4 workers is with their current employer 1 yr. or less. Even for those who still have a job, I’d ballpark it at about 75% or better of ALL those employees feel they are somewhat or very unsatisfied- financially and/or by workload or work performed, so people are ready to abandon and move on to the next in search of that balanced challenge they seek and need to be happy. With all that instability, people are far from the equilibrium of doing what they love and loving what they do; therefore, it’s harder for people to be happy at all nowdays, even while working. “Free time” seems to only be worthwhile if you have a plethora of money and a detailed gameplan for relaxing with it. At any rate, “free time” and all you do with it can be expensive!

By: Scott Young

Scott Young — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 22:16:09 +0000

Dave,

That’s really interesting, I hadn’t read that report.

You’re right, though, that the headlining statement of this article isn’t the real point. That flow matters, and how an unintentional lack of it can deprive us.

-Scott

By: Dave

Dave — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 13:03:37 +0000

This is an interesting article with some excellent thoughts but I question the fundamental premise. See:

http://blogs.chron.com/sciguy/archives/2010/01/breaking_news_scientists_find_workers_happier_on_w.html

Whether the premise is right or wrong, the concept of flow is still very useful when it comes to seeking out work we enjoy and structuring the work we have.