Yesterday is every day
If you want an accurate picture of life, just look at the previous 24 hours
Around this time every year, the Bureau of Labor Statistics releases results from its annual American Time Use Survey. This survey has thousands of Americans report how they spent time yesterday — that is, during the 24 hours between 4 a.m. the previous morning and 4 a.m. on the survey day. Since the survey covers weekdays, weekends, and holidays, and doesn’t ask about particular categories of time, but just what happened next, it’s generally seen as one of the most reliable time surveys out there.
(It turns out, if you ask people “How much time do you spend doing X?” there is a very strong and very human tendency to give socially desirable but inaccurate answers.)
The survey contains fascinating insight into how people spend time. For instance, in 2023 the BLS reported that the average American slept 9.02 hours per day in 2022. (Note: the BLS often updates these links automatically, so if you click on this after the 2024 survey is released, you might get the 2023 numbers). Now, if you asked people to estimate how much the average American sleeps per day, pretty much no one will tell you 9.02 hours. And yet, yesterday — when yesterday includes the various days that yesterday might be — that is the average of how much people slept. To be sure, this number includes older teens (over age 15) and retirees. But even working parents with kids under age 6 averaged over 8 hours.
Longtime readers know that I am a big fan of time tracking. I generally suggest people track a whole week (168 hours). I promise it’s not that onerous. However, if that feels a bit overwhelming, but you’d like to try time tracking, you might do a version of the ATUS on your own life. Document how you spent the 24 hours between 4 a.m. yesterday and 4 a.m. today. It will probably tell you a lot about your life, because yesterday, in its own way, is every day, even if yesterday wasn’t purely “typical.”
Telling stories
Over years of writing about time, I’ve come to see that much of what we tell ourselves about time is based more on stories than actual data. If we feel tired, we call to mind a short night and say that’s how many hours we sleep. If we feel overworked, we call to mind the longest day in the past few weeks, and say that’s a typical work day. In our minds, we might spend tons of time on housework. When we think through yesterday, though, it may be fewer minutes than the answer we’d naturally estimate.
All that is neither here nor there. Yesterday is probably not absolutely typical for anyone, but it can’t be completely atypical for everyone or we aren’t using the right definition of the word typical. So what this means is that “yesterday” can probably give more insights into your life than an assumption of a typical day. If you’re trying to get a grasp on your time, look at yesterday. Because “yesterday” (as opposed to a typical day) actually happened, it can tell you a lot.
For instance, if you exercised yesterday, wonderful. We can be pretty sure that you do exercise, at least here and there. If you didn’t exercise, well, that doesn’t mean you never do. In general, I think that anything that happens three times a week or so is a habit. But it does mean that exercise is not a daily habit.
Maybe yesterday was a work day. What did it look like? Maybe you normally think of yourself as working from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. at least, every workday, which means you work 50-plus hour weeks. But, in fact, yesterday you left a little early and took a long lunch because you needed to run an errand. It wasn’t a typical day! But if you worked less than 10 hours yesterday, the odds are reasonable that you’re not working as many hours as you think you are. You might make different choices if you knew you were working 45 hours vs. 55 hours, so it can be helpful to know this.
Now, maybe yesterday was a weekend or a holiday (depending on when you’re reading this). So clearly that’s not typical right? Except that it turns out weekend days occur twice each week. That’s two out of every seven days, which is hardly atypical. Weekend time counts too — and including it in our mental pictures of our lives offers a much more holistic way of viewing time.
Creating an accurate picture
Of course, it’s quite possible that yesterday was absolutely atypical. Still, if there is any possibility that a day like that will ever occur again, then it can offer insights. Even if you work a lot, there are probably some days that are shorter than others. Even if you don’t sleep as much as you want, some days are likely better than others. Even if you don’t have a ton of discretionary time, you probably do have at least a little on some days.
We want to be sure we’re working with the right story. So, think about how you spent yesterday. Talk it through, 4 a.m. to 4 a.m. Most people can remember the past 24 hours with relative accuracy. If you’re not sure, look at your calendar, or talk to your family members. Then think about where the hours went. How do you feel about it? What do you like most? What do you want to spend more time doing? What do you want to spend less time doing?
Since yesterday is, in some ways, every day, this can help create a clear picture. And if you’d like to see a picture of how Americans, in general, spend their time, spend some time poking around the ATUS website! I promise, you’ll find at least something interesting!