Nov. 21, 2024 – Chances are, you spend more time at home now than you did five years ago.
Of course, many Americans now work from home (or hybrid-style). But dozens of other at-home activities are also on the rise, according to new survey data from the U.S. Census program. For the average American, it adds up to 66 minutes more at-home time daily, compared with 2019.
The trend stretches back to the early 2000s. And yes, COVID jolted things by a good bit.
Loneliness is now an epidemic. Our time with technology hasn’t found its limit yet. And people are moving their bodies less than ever.
It sounds bad. Yet increasing our time at home can create healthy opportunities, too.
U.S. adults now get about 16 minutes more sleep, spend an extra six minutes on hobbies or relaxation, and eat at home for six more minutes daily, the survey found.
“The trends really offer all of us an opportunity to pause, and to look at our own lives,” said Kara Parker, MD, a family medicine doctor who practices primary care at Hennepin Healthcare in Minneapolis. “What is our balance at home, and outside of home? And who are we spending our time with, and where? Is the ‘where’ healthy for us, and how can we make it healthier? Is the ‘who’ healthy for us, and how do we make it healthier?”
These are questions worth visiting several times a year, and Parker suggests a seasonal evaluation. Start yours now.
Eating
Restaurants have long since reopened, but Americans are still eating at home. That’s good because home cooking leads to healthier diets and fewer calories consumed.
But it’s not so good if you’re wolfing down meals off-camera during video meetings or while binge-watching nine seasons of Suits.
It can help to prioritize mealtime as a “mini recharge session” during the workday.
“Commit to one meal a day without screens. Eating while looking at screens can lead to overeating, as it distracts us from hunger and fullness signals,” said Fernanda Brusamolin, EdD, MS, an assistant professor of nutrition and exercise at Bastyr University, which has campuses in California and Washington.
She suggests taking the time to focus on the colors and textures of your food as you eat, which can increase satisfaction and enjoyment while reducing the urge to overeat.
And it turns out that eating mindfully aids in digestion. Set a timer for 20 minutes and eat more slowly, Brusamolin suggests, which can lead to more time chewing and, ultimately, more time for saliva enzymes to break down food so nutrients can be better absorbed.
And if your at-home meals are courtesy of DoorDash, take those six minutes to chop up fresh vegetables for the side, or to make a homemade salad dressing, Brusamolin said.
“With each choice you are making, ask yourself: Are you facing toward wellness or facing toward illness?” she advises.
Relaxing
People are reporting more time doing hobbies and relaxing, and Parker believes this is directly related to the pandemic.
“I see people choosing behaviors that they want to carry forward that they enjoyed from that time,” she said. That’s good: Relaxation triggers your parasympathetic nervous system – a part of your nervous system that decreases your heartbeat and helps you recover from stress.
But there’s an important caveat: Scrolling is not relaxing.
“Some of the statistics on America’s top way to relax is zoning out with TV or scrolling,” Parker said. “People consider that a form of relaxation.”
Relaxation is actually “a deep, mindful moment where you’re truly getting a wide heart rate variability, emphasizing your parasympathetic response, and coming out of it refreshed and in a better space,” Parker said.
“Not everybody has a connection to what truly being relaxed is anymore,” she said.
True relaxation means activating an important brain-body connection called the vagus nerve, which runs from the brain stem to the gut. This is the part of the nervous system that’s well-known to be impacted by meditation and massage. It’s not only linked to digestion, but also inflammation. Achieving true relaxation requires adjusting the heart rate (HR), which is why not scrolling, but deep breathing, is often a good starting place.
Data can help gauge whether you are tapping into your body’s biological ability to relax, so check your smartwatch, ring, or fitness tracker.
“For most people, a walk in nature will widen heart rate variability (HRV), a sign of autonomic balance. For others, deep extended outbreath for several cycles will reduce tension, widen HRV, and induce relaxation,” Parker advised. “For most, doomscrolling, TV watching, and social media consumption activates adrenaline, cortisol, raises HR, and reduces HRV.”
Sleeping
The survey finding that people are spending an extra 16 minutes sleeping also raises some questions, which both Brusamolin and Parker see as another opportunity for each of us to evaluate our own sleep habits.
“Sleeping more – I love that one,” Parker said. “Here’s my question for each individual: Are you in bed more, and having more sleeping time?”
She thinks that perhaps people in the survey were reporting more time in bed, and not reporting an increase in restorative sleep.
“I am not hearing a trend that people are feeling better rested,” Parker said, noting that it’s actually the opposite.
Staying in bed for prolonged periods with the goal of feeling more restored actually became a TikTok trend this past summer, and was dubbed “bed rotting.” The American Academy of Sleep Medicine issued a warning against it, advising instead that people keep a regular schedule for getting in and out of bed.
Again, Parker recommends using devices to gather data about sleep quality, perhaps even doing some mini at-home experiments to see if improving sleep hygiene helps.
“This can include dimming lights in the evening, using blue light blockers, and setting down consumption of activating content through screens an hour before desired sleep,” she said. “It can include increasing daytime exercise, sunlight and fresh air exposure, and having a ritual to ‘tuck yourself into bed’ as you would a child. Then, track how you sleep, wake, and feel.”
“Human physiology does not easily go from high adrenaline, high cortisol, and bright lights to sudden sleep,” she added. “It is a circadian process that thrives on cues of winding down, darkness, and other supportive actions.”
Interacting
You’ve heard the public service announcements. Americans are more isolated than ever, and that can be bad for your health.
But there’s a nuance here that gets overlooked: “The rise in time at home does not simply translate into a loss of all interpersonal contact, but rather represents a shift away from time spent with friends and toward time spent with family,” according to researcher Patrick Sharkey, PhD, a sociology and public affairs professor, who also analyzed U.S. census data and published his findings this past summer in the journal Sociological Science.
He found that more time at home doesn’t always correspond directly with a rise in happiness or improved stress management. Instead, positive benefits appear linked to whether time at home involves human interaction. Parker advises that people stay aware of the balance between time devoted to family and time devoted to friendship.
Friendship is important because it’s bidirectional and mutually beneficial. That’s not always the case with family, Parker said. “So friendships are essential to health.”
“The trend of people talking about less time spent with friends actually bothers and worries me,” Parker said.
In wellness groups that Parker facilitates as part of her primary care practice, she says they address loneliness directly with this question: “ ‘Do you have someone in your life, if you run out of gas 30 miles away, or pop a tire, do you have someone to call?’ And it is amazing how many people we gather who have no one to call for that assistance.”
Repurpose some time – perhaps from time usually spent with family to time spent with friends – and the benefits will likely create a healthy new cycle.
“Loneliness creates behaviors that perpetuate loneliness. It can be vulnerable and take courage to prioritize time with friends. The good news is that true friendships are mutually beneficial,” Parker said. “Dedicating time to friends is one of those choices that contributes to the long game of a meaningful and purposeful life.”
