A study of 646 college students found that those with busier schedules were less likely to report depression and tended to earn better grades.
Students who felt constantly rushed were more likely to experience anxiety and depression, regardless of how much they had to do.
Mindfulness may help people manage busy schedules by shifting their attention to the present moment.
Between work, family responsibilities, appointments, and everyday errands, it can feel like there simply aren't enough hours in the day. It's easy to assume that clearing a few things off the calendar is the key to feeling less stressed. But new research from the University of Colorado Boulder suggests the relationship between time and mental health may be more complicated.
The study, published in the Journal of American College Health, found that having a packed schedule wasn't necessarily linked to worse mental health. Instead, how people felt about their time appeared to make a meaningful difference.
Researchers found that students with busier schedules were less likely to experience depression, while those who regularly felt rushed reported more anxiety and depression. The findings suggest that the problem may not always be how much we have to do, but how we experience the time available to us.
“We have a tendency to think, ‘Oh, things will get better, and I won’t be stressed if I can just take some things off of my plate,’” researcher Caitlin McKimmy said in a news release. “These data show that it’s not that simple — that outside of what is actually on our calendar we need to heal our relationship with time.”
How researchers studied time and mental health
The researchers surveyed 646 undergraduate students to explore two different aspects of time: time scarcity and time pressure.
Time scarcity referred to the actual amount of uncommitted time students had available. To measure it, researchers collected information about how many hours participants spent in class, studying, working, commuting, and handling other activities.
Time pressure, meanwhile, described the subjective feeling of constantly being in a hurry or struggling to keep up. The survey also assessed participants' anxiety, depression, and mindfulness, which involves paying attention to the present moment.
Students also agreed to share their grade-point averages and academic records, allowing researchers to examine how their schedules and perceptions of time related to academic performance.
This approach helped the researchers distinguish between having a genuinely full calendar and feeling overwhelmed by time constraints.
What the findings could mean for consumers
The results revealed an important distinction. Students with less free time were less likely to report depression and tended to have better grades. Those experiencing greater time pressure, however, showed higher levels of anxiety and depression and lower grades.
Mindfulness also appeared to matter. Students who scored higher on mindfulness measures experienced fewer negative mental health effects associated with time pressure.
For consumers juggling busy lives, the findings suggest that cutting back on commitments isn't necessarily the only way to manage stress. Choosing activities that align with personal interests and values, along with taking moments to breathe and refocus on the present, may help make a demanding schedule feel more manageable.
Still, the study doesn't prove that being busy improves mental health. Researchers noted that people who already feel better may be more likely to pursue activities, while other factors could influence both time perception and emotional well-being.
The takeaway isn't that everyone should pack more into their day. Rather, it may be worth paying attention to the difference between having too little free time and feeling perpetually rushed. Those experiences aren't always the same, and understanding that distinction could help people approach their schedules differently.
“These data support the idea that doing more and being engaged can not only lead to better mental health but could also support academic and professional success,” McKimmy said.
“The amount of time we have in our week isn’t super malleable. But the way we think about time is.”