Health · Mental Health · 5 hrs ago
Some workers struggle to use new free time as overtime falls
Reduced overtime has given some workers more free time, but many do not know how to use it.
The commentary focuses on people in their 50s who have no plans for their days off.
It asks why people who put work first may find it hard to make plans for themselves.
Some people expect to enjoy life after retirement, rather than building activities into their lives now.
The writer warns that age-related changes in the brain may make waiting risky.
The piece explores how people can reconsider work-first values and make fuller use of their lives, but it gives no specific next steps.
Work-style reforms have increased people’s free time, but many struggle to find ways to enjoy it, Toyo Keizai reports.
The article focuses on people who have no plans for their free time, including workers in their 50s whose overtime has fallen.
Psychiatrist Hideki Wada examines why some people find it hard to make plans for themselves.
The article says it will consider work-first values and offer ideas for enjoying life more fully.
- Who
- Workers with more free time, including people in their 50s whose overtime has fallen.
- What
- Many struggle to make plans for themselves and enjoy their free time.
- When
- Published on October 29, 2026, at 22:15 UTC.
- Where
- Not stated.
- Why
- Not stated. The article asks why people find it hard to make plans for themselves.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
This story does not have a timeline yet.
- Outlet
- Toyo Keizai
- Published
- October 29, 2026, 22:15 UTC
- Overtime
- Has fallen for workers in their 50s featured in the headline
- Cause of increased free time
- Work-style reforms
- Author
- Hideki Wada, psychiatrist
What people are saying
Why can’t we make plans for ourselves?