Harvard Business Review surprised some readers when they reported that people who spend money to get time are happier than those who spend time to get money. People who have more time with friends, family, or causes and interests dear to their hearts are happier, more productive, and less likely to divorce than those who have more money and less free time.

One obvious conclusion to draw from this is that it is worth hiring a professional cleaning service. When you do this, you are buying free time for yourself: the time you would have spent on cleaning becomes available to you for things that are more important to your happiness.

But we’re not just applying a general idea to something we believe in. The researchers actually studied that question — are people who hire professional cleaners happier? Turns out they are.

Does it really save you time?

It’s probably more of a bargain than you think. Properly trained cleaning technicians like the experts who work for A Beautiful Day cleaning are more efficient than the average householder. They are experts, they have the right tools, and they don’t stop to read books while dusting or to grab a cup of coffee in the middle of scrubbing the counters.

When you hire them for a three-hour clean, you free up a lot more than three hours of your time, because they get a lot more done. It would take more hours of your time to get the same effect.

If, instead of spending that time cleaning, you just skip it, you might argue that you have saved time without hiring cleaners. You’d be mistaken. The Princeton University Neuroscience Institute found that a messy or dirty space is distracting. It causes people to be less productive, as well as less happy. Evidence from MRI scans showed that the subjects in the study were better able to process information in a clean and tidy space, and that they experienced less stress and were more effective in their executive functions.

In other words, when you try to save time by not cleaning your home, you actually lose time to stress, distraction, and lack of effective mental processes.

The solution is to have your home cleaned by experts, so you have more time for your highest priorities.

Did the study look at professional cleaning?

Actually, it did. In a survey of 4,500 people from several different countries, researchers found that 28% of respondents paid others to do “unenjoyable tasks.” To be honest, few of us would describe mopping floors as enjoyable. Coming home to clean floors, not to mention clean toilets, counters, and baseboards, is enjoyable. So we feel confident that those research subjects were paying cleaners.

These people were more satisfied with their lives than the rest.

In a follow-up survey, the researchers specifically asked 1,800 Americans if they paid someone to take care of jobs like shopping or “household maintenance.” Half said they did, and once again they were happier than the other subjects in the research.

Just to make completely sure, the researchers went on to give money to 60 volunteers for two consecutive weeks. One week they were told to buy themselves something, a material object. In the other week, they were told to spend their money to give themselves more free time.

In the free time week, they were happier. They reported more positive feelings like joy and enthusiasm, and fewer negative feelings like anger or stress.

Are you ready to be happier?

Contact us today and get ready to be happier.