Survey finds today’s modern woman juggles a jam-packed schedule and struggles to find more than 30 minutes a day to herself.
NEW YORK — The chorus to the Whitney Houston classic “I’m Every Woman” may need to be updated to, “I’m every woman, I’m so busy!” That’s because a new survey finds with all the things filling her daily to-do list, the average woman needs far more than 24 hours to accommodate her jam-packed schedule.
More specifically, the survey of 2,000 American women, commissioned by skin and hair product company Garnier Fructis, found that women would require 82 extra minutes a day just to complete all the daily tasks they set out to do.
The survey’s results showed that women still shoulder the bulk of domestic tasks, and are getting busier. More than half of the respondents (55%) said they feel too busy to keep up with all ongoing tasks — which include chaperoning children, running errands, managing work, or catching up with friends. Seven in ten respondents always feel rushed when they’re getting ready to leave the house.
And despite all the running around, the researchers found that the average woman has 19 days per month where things just don’t go as planned.
Overall, mornings were by far the busiest part of the day for those surveyed, with a typical morning routine requiring 55 minutes of their time.
Sadly, many respondents feel they have barely any free time to simply do something they enjoy. Three in ten said they’re never able to squeeze in more than 30 minutes of “me time” per day. And 38% admit they haven’t had a single afternoon to themselves in more than a month.
“As a hairstylist, I hear countless women tell me they wish they could cut down on the time spent doing their own hair. They all wish they could get more time back for themselves,” says Garnier Consulting Celebrity Hair Stylist Ashley Streicher in a statement.
If given more time per day, 49% of respondents would use it to sleep, 36% would read more, and 29% said they would use it to exercise. A quarter would even give up caffeine in exchange for more time at home relaxing. One in ten said they’d be willing to give up their significant other in order to have a more time to get ready each day.
About 1 in 5 women said they would try to learn a new hobby if they had some extra time added to their day. The most popular hobbies mentioned were knitting, writing poetry, and photography.
So, if you feel like you find yourself frequently feeling like there’s just not enough time in the day, perhaps there’s at least some comfort in knowing you’re far, far from alone.
The survey was conducted by market research firm OnePoll in December 2018.