The Cost of Procrastination in Australia [Infographic]
Australia is well known for its relaxed culture and high quality of life; however, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), the land Down Under is also a nation of procrastinators.
Research compiled by the ABS reveals that on average Aussies enjoy 5 hours of free time each day, but unfortunately most are wasting it on unproductive habits around the house.
Considering that the cost of living in Australia is so high and that most people down here have high levels of personal debt, the cost of procrastination can be very expensive indeed.
"Infographic by Clara Prieto - www.claraprieto.com.
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Here is a brief look at what the ABS data found:
An Average Day
Firstly the ABS broke down how Australians spend their average day. Not surprisingly, they found that the average person spent almost half of their time (46%) sleeping, eating and taking care of personal hygiene. Work, school and family commitments combined to take up roughly a third (33%) of each day, leaving 21% of the day, just over 5 hours, for Aussies to do with as they wished.
Procrastinating the Australian Way
According to the study, one activity was by far the most popular way to spend free time, with 87.4% of Australians declaring themselves to be regular television viewers.
The next most popular activity was found to be listening to the radio, with 47.9% of the population saying they tune in whenever they can. The third most popular free time activity according to ABS data was reading, with 43.7% of Australians identifying as regular readers.
Throwing Away Time
While it came as no surprise that Australians enjoy watching TV, the amount of time they spent in front of the set was rather staggering.
The ABS data revealed that on average Australians spend 155 mins each day watching television, which is roughly half of all their available free time. Shockingly, Australians 15 years and older were found to collectively watch more than 42 million hours of TV each and every day!
Listening to the radio and reading took up far less time, with Aussie men and women found to spend a daily average of 59 minutes listening to the radio and 33 minutes reading.
The Financial Cost of Procrastination
Cutting back on unproductive habits and replacing wasted time with online work can provide a significant boost to your income, especially considering that many online jobs now pay up to $35 per hour.
For example, by spending the time that you would normally watch TV working online instead, at $35/hour the average Australian could make an extra $90.41 a day, $632.91 a week, or $30,380 a year.
Even just reducing your television watching by 30 minutes each day could mean an extra $490 a month or $5,880 a year.
Cutting back on listening to the radio or reading can also make a significant difference. By replacing these activities with a $35/hour online job, one week without the radio could mean earning an extra $240.91, and a week without those beloved books could bring in $134.75.
How to Turn Wasted Time into Cash
Regardless of how much or how little time you have to spare, it is easy to turn free time into cash from the comfort of your own home with Internet based work. There is a wide variety of positions available online, such as completing surveys, freelance writing and mystery shopping. So stop wasting your precious free time procrastinating and start boosting that bank balance of yours.