Time Poverty at Work: What It Costs and How to Reclaim Your Time | Ashley Whillans

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Jul 15, 2025

Ashley Whillans, a behavioral scientist at Harvard Business School and author of 'Time Smart,' dives into the concept of time poverty and its impact on workplace well-being. She explains how an organization’s culture can limit time affluence and emphasizes that control over time often outweighs financial perks. The discussion tackles the myth of work-life balance, the importance of fostering creativity, and strategies to combat urgency culture, ultimately advocating for humane policies that prioritize individual needs and personal growth in the workplace.

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INSIGHT

Time Poverty Defined

Time poverty is the feeling of not having enough time to do what you want or need daily.
Control over one's time affects happiness and productivity more than actual discretionary hours.

INSIGHT

Wealth Increases Time Stress

Wealthier people often feel more time stress because their time is more valuable financially.
Viewing time as money reduces enjoyment of leisure and harms social relationships.

INSIGHT

Low Income Increases Time Poverty

Less wealthy and frontline workers also experience time poverty due to unpredictable schedules and low autonomy.
Multiple jobs, long commutes, and inability to outsource tasks worsen their temporal constraints.

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Ashley Whillans has spent years studying how time, money, and workplace culture shape our well-being. As a behavioral scientist at Harvard Business School, she’s found that time poverty is more than a personal stressor—it’s a leadership challenge, an organizational blind spot, and one of the biggest barriers to well-being at work.

In this episode, Dart and Ashley talk about why traditional perks miss the point, why more control over your time can matter more than a raise, and what it looks like to build companies where people actually have time to think, rest, and grow. They explore urgency culture, the myth of work-life balance, and the tradeoffs we make without realizing it.

Ashley Whillans is a professor at Harvard Business School and the author of Time Smart. Her research has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Harvard Business Review.

In this episode, Dart and Ashley discuss:
- How time poverty affects performance and well-being
- Why leaders should care about how their teams spend time
- The limits of traditional perks
- How to shift from burnout to sustainability
- Why work-life balance is a myth—and what matters more
- What “time affluence” really means
- And other topics…

Ashley Whillans is the Volpert Family Associate Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School. Her work focuses on how people spend their time and money—and how those choices shape happiness and success. She is the author of Time Smart, a book that helps people reclaim time in a world that constantly steals it. Ashley’s research has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Harvard Business Review. Her PhD from the University of British Columbia earned the 2018 CAGS Distinguished Dissertation Award in Canada for her work on time and happiness.

Resources Mentioned:
Time Smart: How to Reclaim Your Time and Live a Happier Life, by Ashley Whillans: https://www.amazon.com/Time-Smart-Reclaim-Your-Happier/dp/1633698351

Connect with Ashley:
Harvard Business School profile: hbs.edu/faculty/ashley-whillans

Work with Dart:
Dart is the CEO and co-founder of the work design firm 11fold. Build work that makes employees feel alive, connected to their work, and focused on what’s most important to the business. Book a call at 11fold.com.