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Satisfaction in everyday life: those who wait for the perfect moment often miss out on the now.
Tobias Hase/dpa-tmn
Switzerland remains a country with a high level of life satisfaction. However, while relationships and the working atmosphere are impressive, leisure time and finances score poorly. Studies show why we put off the finer things in life and what we can do about it.
Life is good in Switzerland, as figures suggest: in 2023, 35.9% of the population said they were very satisfied with their current life. Satisfaction increases with age, income and education.
Gender, on the other hand, makes hardly any difference. Couples without children are the most satisfied, rating their lives higher than families with children or those living alone. Family life and social contacts therefore have a clear impact on general satisfaction.
These findings are based on a study on well-being by the Federal Statistical Office. Switzerland is also at the top in a European comparison: while the EU population scored an average of 7.3 out of 10 points in 2023, Switzerland has been in the upper range for years. Even in prosperous neighboring countries, the average is often lower.
However, a closer look at the details reveals differences: "Togetherness", i.e. living together in private or the atmosphere at work, is the area that triggers the most satisfaction. More than one in two people awarded top marks here.
The situation is quite different when it comes to the hard facts: Income, financial security and available leisure time rank at the bottom of the scale and are considered the biggest weak points. Switzerland is no exception. Surveys conducted by the Gallup Institute in various countries show a declining commitment to work and a "depressed mood" across Europe.
Before the coronavirus pandemic, almost 70% of employees still felt confident about their lives; today, this figure is less than half. In 2025, a clear dampening of the mood in everyday working life was measured compared to previous years. It is therefore no wonder that the view of salary and work-life balance is also more critical.
There is also a background noise of pessimism: according to the security policy study "Security 2025", Swiss voters are more skeptical about the global political situation than they have been for years. This feeling of insecurity weighs on well-being even when the personal environment is actually right.
Young people are particularly affected: 14 to 29-year-olds are unhappier than previous generations of the same age, develop depressive symptoms more frequently and are very worried about their future in the face of global crises.
Of all things, leisure time, which should be the most important counterbalance to everyday working life, performs poorly in Switzerland and reveals paradoxical behavior:
Recent research now provides an unexpected twist. We not only postpone duties such as tax returns or laundry, but also things that bring us joy. For example, meeting up with an old friend, going on a long-planned trip or opening a bottle of wine we've been putting off for a long time.
Several experiments published in the American scientific journal PNAS Nexus showed that the longer people pause an enjoyable activity, the longer they put off restarting it. Even though they are actually looking forward to it and the conditions have long been right. The psychological stumbling block: we wait for the "perfect" moment.
Researchers call this pattern "occasion matching": the "first time again" should be particularly significant, so significant that no ordinary Tuesday will do. We want to experience the pleasure as intensely and especially as possible. "'Now' never feels special enough," says study author Ed O'Brien. The result is missed moments of happiness. A mechanism that is also reflected in the FSO data on Swiss leisure dissatisfaction.
At the same time, we believe that we will have more time and energy to do the nice things in the future, which is why many people keep putting off visiting local attractions, for example, as a study from 2010 showed.
The experiments in the PNAS Nexus study provide impressive evidence of this pattern: participants preferred to avoid contact with a close friend and instead completed a boring writing task. Others waited longer than necessary after the pandemic to visit restaurants, travel or go to the theater because the first visit was "not supposed to happen just like that".
However, those who wait for the ideal occasion to go on a bike ride, have dinner with friends or book a vacation often remain inactive and end up rating their own free time lower. The good news is that this effect can be influenced (see box below).
For those who perceive free time as a lack, a different view of the moment often helps. O'Brien summed up the irony in one sentence: "It's the really good wine that ends up gathering the most dust." Conclusion: Don't wait for the perfect occasion - just do it.
