A new study by two California State University, Northridge professors seems to suggest just that.

Marketing professors David S. Ackerman and Barbara L. Gross took a look at how people perceived time and the emotions associated with how they spent their time. What they found surprised them.

"Many people feel stressed out in our fast-paced society. Workweeks seem to get longer and free time seems to get scarcer, and people often complain that they do not have enough time to do things they really want to do," Ackerman said. "We wanted to find out where this time crunch comes from.

"What our study found was, contrary to popular perception, the pressure of the workplace may not be the culprit," he said. "We found that an abundance of fun choices to spend our leisure time may be a major factor behind why those in affluent societies find themselves as rushed or time pressured as they think they are."

Ackerman and Gross found that as the number of enjoyable ways to spend free time increased, even as work and chores at home decreased, the perception of how much free time a person has seemed to drop and the sense of time pressure rose.

"These findings suggest that the explosion of choices available to consumers in society today could potentially be a major source of unhappiness," Ackerman said.

Gross pointed out that lack of time to do things is often a subject bandied about in the media and a frequent topic for discussion over the water cooler. Many people claim the workweek has lengthened, diminishing time for other pursuits. And as two-income families have become the norm, the amount of discretionary time available for household tasks has decreased.

Ackerman and Gross said others have argued that the perception of time pressure may not be from any absolute increase in time required for working, but rather intentionally choosing work over family life.

"For every choice that a consumer makes, there are many alternatives that must be foregone," Gross said. "Given the limitations of time and money, there may be quite a few 'roads not traveled.' As the number of choices for leisure time, and advertising for them, increases, consumers can easily imagine traveling some place or engaging in some activity which they do not have the time to do."

For example, she said, wishing one had the time to take tennis lessons, travel the world, learn French or spend more time with one's children.

"An abundance of choices as to how to spend free time can, in and of itself, lead to perceived time scarcity because of what must be foregone," Ackerman said. "If there are not so many enjoyable things to do, as in less affluent societies, life does seem less rushed even though the work may be much harder."

Ackerman said one of the most telling things he heard to support the report was a comment made at a coffeehouse in Pasadena.

"A young woman said 'I am so afraid that I'll be so old and then there are things I could never do,'" Ackerman said. "She was only in her 20s, that says something."