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Aging Well; Lifestyle
Puttering Around Is Time Well Spent
Especially for Seniors
The perk of aging isn’t the 4:30 pm dinner specials or the ubiquitous senior discounts. It’s not the lifestyle reset that retirement brings, allowing for long-deferred pursuits.
The perk of aging is the golden pass to putter around without society’s raised eyebrow of disapproval.
Shouldn’t seniors spend more time being productive?
Puttering is productive. It contributes to our well-being.
Research shows puttering around with small tasks has a therapeutic benefit, especially for seniors.
In a landmark study, Harvard psychologist Dr. Ellen Langer (who has been a guest on the Crow’s Feet podcast) and research psychologist Dr. Judith Rodin of Yale University found that a group of nursing home residents who had authority over their living spaces — the placement of their furniture and care of a plant, essentially the freedom to putter — had better health outcomes over time than the control group whose surroundings were “cared for” by staff. The second group was not encouraged to putter around their cabins.
