What does the average human day look like and how do Aussies compare?

We all have 24 hours a day and how we spend them depends on the nature of our work, priorities and other commitments.

A new study was published using time surveys and labour force surveys crunching the numbers and working out what the average human day looks like around the globe.

Interestingly, the results show that we spend about 38 per cent of our time in bed.

Mr William Fajzel, lead author of the study said:

"Time is really ideal because everyone has 24 hours in a day and everyone has to spend that full amount of time doing something.

It's not necessarily surprising when you think about it, but one of the largest chunks of time was sleep, which was around nine hours in the survey data."

What else do we spend time on?

According to the data, we spend just over nine hours caring, learning and engaging.

In fact, an average of 9.4 hours per day was spent on these activities, which include:

• hygiene and grooming,
• health care (for ourselves and others),
• child care,
• schooling,
• research in the academic and private sectors,
• religious activities, and
• "desired experiences" such as exercise, socialising, meals, hobbies and engaging with media

Meanwhile, the average human spends over three hours providing food, raw materials, construction and maintenance.

On the other hand, we only just spend over 2 hours on administration, travelling and shopping.

How do Aussies compare to the global average?

Well, according to the survey, Australians sleep about the global average.

However, studies that tracked sleep using wearable devices found that the number could be lower.

Mr Fajzel commented:

"It's smaller than the 'sleep and bed rest' activity because it only samples the adult population, and people also consistently over-report their sleeping time in surveys."

Furthermore, Aussies spend more time than average on passive, interactive and social activities.

Based on the survey we spend about 5 hours each day interacting with people and doing other activities we enjoy — slightly above the global average.

However, the study also found that we spend slightly less time on hygiene and grooming than the global average.

According to the data, Australians spend about 0.9 hours preening themselves, compared to 1.1 hours globally.

About Brett Warren Brett Warren is National Director of Metropole Properties and uses his two decades of property investment experience to advise clients how to grow, protect and pass on their wealth through strategic property advice.