Why the need for time use data in the NUS1000 Staff Edition study?

Why do we ask so many questions about time use?

In NUS 1000SE, daily time use data is gathered over five, two-week periods via an electronic diary. A number of persons have pointed out this repeats information already gathered in some questionnaires. Other questions are repeated over different time points. So, are the researchers simply not being efficient about information gathering?

Time: something many people never seem to have enough of

Our years of research indicate that Singaporeans are relatively well informed about health tips. The challenge lies in being able to act on that knowledge. Many who aspire to increase physical activity and improve sleep complain that there isn’t enough time. Yet other persons cope and thrive. Knowing an individual’s time use pattern lies at the heart of customizing time management for health, wellbeing and productivity. Knowing patterns in communities helps in formulating policies that benefit more persons.

Each of you does multiple surveys each year, yet do you ever recall one on time use? No. Singapore does thousands of surveys but to date, there has never been a published Singaporean time use study.

What’s the point of our questions and information gathering strategy?

Time use data can give insights into work life balance, regularity or irregularity of schedules and pain points that can be improved e.g. social media use, commute times. Knowing how much time staff spend on personal care, exercise, socializing and sleep will be cross referenced to physiological, mental health and physical activity indicators to help us develop norms that are meaningful to our people. 

Why seemingly repetitive questions?

Most time use surveys are very detailed, far more detailed than the one we are running. However, they do not examine the regularity of schedules, how these change at different time points in the year or how these relate to circadian preference, perceptions of anxiety / stress and other health and wellbeing indicators we study. A few repeated questions are useful in establishing the veracity (inferred from consistency) of responses you give. Others differentiate persons who have stable as opposed to constantly changing schedules. A few questions are repeated because the belong to instruments focused on different aspects of behavior but just happen to ask the same questions.

We know your time is valuable

Your voluntary participation means you care. And we respect that. Nobody likes filling in forms that make no difference. We all have the experience of providing ‘additional information’ that may never be used by the researchers. The fact that we provide channels to listen to feedback and act on it; that we care to write blogs that address concerns (such as this one) and our provision of periodic updates on your data indicates our interest in giving you something back.

Learn with us

The team may be experienced researchers, but we constantly strive to learn, to optimize and to gain insights that will enable all of us to make better use of our time and abilities while keeping up wellbeing and health. Do continue to provide us feedback and continue to provide data. It will be worth everyone’s time!