Because our daily activities should give us value, in the form of happiness or comfort, we can index our activities to see which ones bring us the most value. I call this the Activity Investment Benefit Index, or AIBI.
To find your AIBI for a given activity, try the following equation:
AIBI = T/B
where T = Time Spent in Activity (measured in minutes), and B = the Benefit Level. The Benefit Level is a subjective rating between 1 and 10 of how much the activity produces positive feelings for you (joy, happiness, comfort, relief, etc.). 10 represents high value, 1 represents low value.
In general, the lower the index for an activity compared to other activities, the better. That means that the activity is effective and efficient in bringing you value.
For example, let’s say you walk every day for 60 minutes. This activity brings you a benefit level of 8. The AIBI for that activity then would be 7.5. Compare that to another activity – commuting to and from work. Total commute takes you about 60 minutes. This brings you a benefit level of 3. Your AIBI for commuting, then, is 20.
From this comparison, walking has a lower AIBI than commuting, making it more beneficial to you.
Now there are two ways to lower the AIBI. You can either decrease the time spent on the activity or increase the benefit level. With the commuting example, there are two things you can do:
Doing an AIBI comparison for your daily activities will help you to see not only where your time is going to, but how much value you’re getting from these activities. You can then plan according.