This book is about the urgent need to have time for health. It explains why it’s not laziness, ignorance or lack of motivation that’s the problem for unhealthy lifestyles, and why so many people lack time for their health.

Lyndall Strazdins is a Professor at the Australian National University and an Australian Research Council Future Fellowship. This book is about the urgent need to have time for health. It's about why people don’t exercise, rest or eat healthy food even when they know they need to. Time has become the prescription needed to halt chronic diseases, 30 minutes of physical activity every day is a minimum, but this book argues against telling people to do more. It explains why it’s not laziness, ignorance or lack of motivation that’s the problem for unhealthy lifestyles, and why so many people lack time for their health. The book connects ideas from economics, sociology, political economy and public health to work-family dilemmas, gender and social inequality. It ends by canvassing interventions and actions from the personal, to the workplace, health promotion and urban design.  

“A rich man once said “It’s easy to make more money, but you can’t make time”.  Time is the ultimate non-renewable resource.  These days everybody complains about time scarcity, yet Strazdins reveals how inequalities in people’s access to time reflect broader injustices in society. Her analysis of time provides a unifying theme for understanding the origins of health inequalities.” (Ichiro Kawachi, John L. Loeb & Frances Lehman Loeb Professor of Social Epidemiology, Harvard University) “Lyndall Strazdins henceforth is a Time Lady - or Lord, whatever the past masters of Dr. Who’s planet Gallifrey deem appropriate. She is the first in our universe to set out temporal issues both as determinants and consequences of individual and community health. Take your time to read this wonderfully elegant short time and health volume. It will yield more time. Don’t believe any other sci-fi characters (like Commander Deanna Troi in one of the better Star Trek capers, First Contact) who would say “This is no time to talk about time. We don't have the time!” This concise and comprehensive essay is, indeed, bigger on the inside - it will give you more time. It will give new insights for our complex understandings of time, money, health and wellbeing. It is, in fact, possibly high time to be published.” (Evelyne de Leeuw, Professor of Public Health, School of Public Health, University of Montreal, holder of the ‘Canada Excellence in Research Chair’ in One Urban Health, Professor of Urban Health and Policy, University of New South Wales) “I’m very pleased to see this new book by Professor Strazdins.  Inequalities associated with access to time and control over time have received too little attention from work-family researchers.  This very thoughtful ‘deep dive’ to consider the expansive impact of such inequalities on all aspects of life has the potential to influence the work of many researchers.” (Shelley MacDermid Wadsworth, Distinguished Professor, Department of Human Development and Family Science and Director Emerita, Center for Families; Director, Military Family Research Institute, Purdue University) “Lyndall Strazdins' brilliant book demonstrates that time can kill, time can stress us and time can make inequality worse. In a nutshell she conceives time as one of the most pressing health issues of our time. This important book also offers prescriptions for institutions, corporations and government about how time pressures can be reduced to improve health. Make the time to read this book for your health's sake!” (Fran Baum, Professor of Health Equity, NH&MRC Fellow and Director of Stretton Health Equity, University of Adelaide) “This is a timely book in every way! In a period where questions about work, efficiency, fertility and health are on policy makers minds around the globe, Lyndall Strazdins shows the connections between time and health for all people, genders, workers and students. Strazdins not only explains the price of time and the links to health outcomes and inequality, but she also provides examples of policies and practices that can change the way we use time and improve our lives.” (Marion Baird AO, Professor of Gender and Employment Relations, Co-Director of the Sydney Employment Relations Research Group, University of Sydney Business School, editor of “The Multigenerational Workforce: Managing Age and Gender at Work” (2024) and “At a Turning Point: Work, Care and Family Policies in Australia” (2024))  

Addresses a major scholarly need to consider time systematically in population health research and theory building Combines theory and evidence with a practical, everyday focus Shows how health prevention and promotion can be effective, fairer, and time sensitive

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