Free Time: Islands of Freedom?

Contemporary life can feel like being caught in a current that pulls us in every direction. Whether at work or at home, we often struggle to keep our heads above water. Sometimes we manage to stay afloat; other times we feel we’re drowning in a stormy ocean of duties. In those moments, all we wish for is calm waters.

Amid this sea of commitments and time pressure, we imagine islands of freedom — those precious hours we call “free time.” While much of our day is governed by external demands, free time appears as a space of autonomy, where we can finally choose how to spend our time.But are we really free once we get there?

The paradox of busyness

If we truly have more free time than past generations, why do we still feel rushed?Why do we spend our leisure the way we do, and what shapes our sense of what counts as “worthy” time?

Much has been said about how we spend our hours in front of screens — scrolling, streaming, or multitasking our way through the day. Despite the benefits, these habits are often linked to stress and social disconnection. But they also reflect a deeper issue: cultural prescriptions of productivity.

We are surrounded by reminders to optimize every moment — in media, wellness culture, and time-management apps. We’re told to make every second count. It’s no wonder we rarely see people simply sitting at a bus stop, watching the world go by. More often, we see the tops of their heads, fingers moving quickly across their phones. (And yes — not only the younger generation.)

Yet when we look back at our day, we often judge that same time as “wasted.”Television viewing, for instance, is described as relaxing but also as unproductive. In many Western countries, adults spend more than three hours a day watching TV, and now even more on mobile devices. We multi-screen through our supposed leisure, while using navigation apps to save a single minute on the road. It’s hard not to see the contradiction.

Worthy time

Many of our daily pastimes happen automatically, but others are carefully planned — part of an invisible checklist we carry in our minds. A friend’s teenage daughter once told me how exhausted she felt after school: she’d gone straight to her personal trainer, and then to get a manicure. Her tiredness wasn’t just from doing too much — it came from the pressure to be a certain kind of self.

How much of what we do in our free time is shaped by such ideals — the “fit” body, the “balanced” self, the “productive” life? Is sport truly leisure, or another task to check off? Do we run because it’s pleasurable, or because we feel we must?

Even when we do take a break — say, on vacation — many of us feel compelled to document the experience and post it online. We measure moments not just by how they feel, but by how they look. We stay busy even while trying to rest.

Illusions of freedom

Our sense of busyness is certainly tied to the demands of work and family, but it may also stem from the cultural scripts that tell us what a “worthy” life looks like. The drive to be efficient, disciplined, and self-improving follows us even onto the islands of freedom we call free time. Perhaps the challenge is not simply to find time, but to reclaim the freedom within it.