How does your day look compared to the average American?

FlowingData's animated chart titled A Day in the Life of Americans gives us an interesting visualization of what the average American is up to at different times throughout the day. You can choose different speeds to advance the time (we recommend choosing "fast") and watch as the different colored dots flow throughout the chart, showing what folks are up to as the day progresses.

Questions:

• Which activities take up the most time in an average person's day? Why do you think these activities are the most time-consuming?
• Compare the time spent on work to the time spent on leisure and other activities. What does this tell us about work-life balance in America?
• What might the distribution of time spent on different activities tell us about societal values and priorities?
• Are there any shifts in the patterns shown in this data that you would expect in the next ten years?

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Looking for more interactive resources? Be sure to check out the NGPF Interactive Library. 

About the Author

Ryan Wood

Ryan grew up with and maintains a love for learning. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay with a degree in Business Administration and worked in sports marketing for a number of years. After living in Texas, Colorado, Tennessee, and Minnesota, the call of education eventually brought Ryan back to his home state of Wisconsin where he was a Business and Marketing teacher for three years. In his free time he likes to spend time with his wife and daughter, play basketball, read, and go fishing. Now with NGPF, Ryan is excited to help teachers lead the most important course their students will ever take.