My Average American Day

Americans are spending less time at work, but more time sleeping, eating, and studying--and also more time on leisure activities, as reported in a recent Wall Street Journal article. This makes me wonder where I fit in--what is my average American day like?

 

The keyword, of course, is average. That means that this is averaged based on all days, including weekend days, when a lot of people do not have to work. It also means there is a huge range in all of the categories depending on age and socioeconomic status, to state the patently obvious.

To found out where I fall in this average, I am tracking my activities for 7 days, from Sunday, June 26 through Saturday, July 2. This will provide some data to figure out my average American day. I will be tracking myself for a week in all of the categories in the graphic above:

sleeping
eating and drinking
household activities
caring for household members
organizational, civic, and religious activities
working
education
personal care
leisure and sports
watching television
telephone calls, mail, and e-mail
purchasing goods and services
caring for non-household members
other activities