What Americans Actually Do All Day Long • Hacker News Board

Re: What Americans Actually Do All Day Long

#31

Post by timjahn » Thu, Aug 30, 2012, 11:36 AM UTC

alexfoo wrote: post #30

samstave wrote: post #3

Get up Check email on phone / check HN / check reddit Shower/get baby ready check email / check HN / check reddit prep backpack, get things needed for work bike to bart (music) check HN / check reddit (music) arrive at embarcaderro go to starbucks - order "large hot water" {free} - insert teabag supplied by office (restock once a week) [mighty leaf green tea tropical] walk to client site work / email / work / HN / re…

Parenthood rocks. Apart from the obvious point that it is mind-bogglingly fantastic in itself (far more rewarding than all of this computer stuff) it had a profound effect on my work life balance. Gone are stupid hours at work; I changed my work hours to fit nursery drop-off/collection times and even dropped to a 4 day week so I could spend quality time with my daughter rather than her going to nursery for an extra d…

"It's been long enough that I really have no idea what I used to do with all of my spare time before I became a father. "

My little guy just turned two and I echo all your thoughts here, but this one is especially true.

What the hell did we do with all our time before??

Here's to parenthood. :)

Re: What Americans Actually Do All Day Long

#32

Post by michaelochurch » Thu, Aug 30, 2012, 11:40 AM UTC

Holy fuck those numbers are depressing.

Re: What Americans Actually Do All Day Long

#33

Post by neilkelty » Thu, Aug 30, 2012, 11:46 AM UTC

Where's exercise contained? I don't mean that I'm surprised it barely registers, but what category is it under?

Re: What Americans Actually Do All Day Long

#34

Post by andyjohnson0 » Thu, Aug 30, 2012, 11:50 AM UTC

k2enemy wrote: post #29

andyjohnson0 wrote: post #28

It would be interesting to know how much of the "leisure" time is spent watching television. My guess is almost all.

TV: 1hr 35min There is a second graphic with a breakdown of "leisure" and "cooking, cleaning, etc"

Thanks for correcting me. I missed the second graphic.

I still find it depressing that TV takes ~50% of an "average" person's leisure/discretionary time. 94 minutes per work-day is just over 407 hours per year, and weekends will add more.

Edit: Changed to exclude weekends. Assume 260 work days per year.

Re: What Americans Actually Do All Day Long

#35

Post by GuiA » Thu, Aug 30, 2012, 11:53 AM UTC

michaelochurch wrote: post #32

Holy fuck those numbers are depressing.

Which part depresses you the most? What's your typical day like?

Re: What Americans Actually Do All Day Long

#36

Post by adestefan » Thu, Aug 30, 2012, 11:56 AM UTC

timjahn wrote: post #31

alexfoo wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Parenthood rocks. Apart from the obvious point that it is mind-bogglingly fantastic in itself (far more rewarding than all of this computer stuff) it had a profound effect on my work life balance. Gone are stupid hours at work; I changed my work hours to fit nursery drop-off/collection times and even dropped to a 4 day week so I could spend quality time with my daughter rather than her going to nursery for an extra d…

"It's been long enough that I really have no idea what I used to do with all of my spare time before I became a father. " My little guy just turned two and I echo all your thoughts here, but this one is especially true. What the hell did we do with all our time before?? Here's to parenthood. :)

Sleep.

Re: What Americans Actually Do All Day Long

#37

Post by nhebb » Thu, Aug 30, 2012, 11:57 AM UTC

neilkelty wrote: post #33

Where's exercise contained? I don't mean that I'm surprised it barely registers, but what category is it under?

"Playing sports" - under the Leisure details - is probably the catchall category for exercise.

Re: What Americans Actually Do All Day Long

#38

Post by yummyfajitas » Thu, Aug 30, 2012, 12:30 PM UTC

For anyone who is interested, the microdata is here:

http://www.bls.gov/tus/datafiles_2011.htm

Most of the questions people are asking can be answered with about 20 minutes of work and a little pandas-fu (or excel, if you are that sort of person).

Re: What Americans Actually Do All Day Long

#39

Post by robocaptain » Thu, Aug 30, 2012, 12:46 PM UTC

alexfoo wrote: post #30

samstave wrote: post #3

Get up Check email on phone / check HN / check reddit Shower/get baby ready check email / check HN / check reddit prep backpack, get things needed for work bike to bart (music) check HN / check reddit (music) arrive at embarcaderro go to starbucks - order "large hot water" {free} - insert teabag supplied by office (restock once a week) [mighty leaf green tea tropical] walk to client site work / email / work / HN / re…

Parenthood rocks. Apart from the obvious point that it is mind-bogglingly fantastic in itself (far more rewarding than all of this computer stuff) it had a profound effect on my work life balance. Gone are stupid hours at work; I changed my work hours to fit nursery drop-off/collection times and even dropped to a 4 day week so I could spend quality time with my daughter rather than her going to nursery for an extra d…

This is great to read.. I love the idea of "bonkers discussions", now I have that to look forward to in 3 years. :)

Re: What Americans Actually Do All Day Long

#40

Post by icebraining » Thu, Aug 30, 2012, 1:07 PM UTC

s8qnze982y wrote: post #16

ChrisBaldwin wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Statistics are just statistics. Nothing is sad about 6 minutes when the "average" American isn't in school.

They're not "just statistics", as they point to some interesting facts. Americans for example travel less and work more compared to other countries. "6 minutes of education" is definitively negative (although I would personally use "narrow (minded)" in place of "sad") when compared with "90+ minutes of TV".

"Education" may be just institutional. Personally, I don't have "education time" anymore, it's either during work, leisure or commuting, but I still learn daily.