Over the holiday period, Americans spend a massive 6 hours and 41 minutes discussing what film or TV to watch, 10 hrs and 31 mins washing dishes and 5 hrs and 32 mins arguing with their family members.

That’s the verdict of a compelling new study by Watchfinder & Co., the pre-owned watch specialist, who are saving shoppers precious time this holiday season by giving them immediate access to pre-owned luxury watch models that, first-hand, would require months and even years of waiting on a waitlist to purchase.

The brand surveyed 2,000 Americans to find out exactly how they spend their time while visiting family between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day, and found that Americans spend most of their time watching TV/films (24hrs and 57mins), scrolling on social media (17 hrs and 15 mins), and listening to holiday music (14 hrs and 40 mins). Other notable festive activities include returning unwanted gifts (4 hrs and 9 mins), filming festive TikTok content (5 hrs and 39 mins) and traveling abroad (8 hrs and 29 mins).

What’s more, during the same period Americans watch an average of 6.36 festive films, eat 8.86 festive treats and send 5.71 holiday cards. The average 16-24 year old gets out of bed as late as 10:30am, but 55 and overs are earlier risers, getting up by 7:30am on average.

How Americans Spend Their Time Over The Holidays

• Returning unwanted presents – 4 hrs 9 mins
• Arguing with family – 5 hrs 32 mins
• Filming festive TikTok content – 5 hrs 39 mins
• Panicking about gifts arriving on time – 5 hrs 52 mins
• Cleaning wrapping paper – 6 hrs 21 mins
• Discussing what film or TV want to watch – 6 hrs 41 mins
• Deciding what to eat – 6 hrs 59 mins
• Wrapping presents – 7 hrs 3 mins
• Playing christmas games – 7 hrs 21 mins
• Traveling abroad – 8 hrs 29 mins
• Sitting in traffic – 9 hrs 32 mins
• Attending holiday parties – 9 hrs 37 mins
• Washing dishes – 10 hrs 31 mins
• Online shopping – 10 hrs 35 mins
• Small talk with family – 11 hrs 35 mins
• Watching football – 12 hrs 36 mins
• Tidying the house – 13 hrs 38 mins
• Listening to holiday music – 14 hrs and 40 mins
• Scrolling on social media – 17 hrs 15 mins
• Watching TV & Films – 24 hrs 57 mins

The Time It Takes To Give A Gift

The study also looked at time spent when gifting specifically, finding that we spend 5 hrs and 52 mins panicking about whether gifts will arrive on time, 7 hrs 3 mins wrapping presents and 4 hrs 9 mins returning the presents we did not want to receive.

Giving your loved ones gifts can take longer than anticipated too. Almost half (46%) of Americans have had to resort to giving an IOU gift note or a print out when a present has been late, and over a quarter (28%) have missed out on gifting a present entirely because it didn’t arrive on time.

Additionally, long wait times for gifts are a red flag. Americans said the longest they would be willing to wait to give the perfect gift to a loved one is less than five weeks. The research was commissioned as part of Watchfinder & Co.’s ongoing work to save consumers time this holiday period, helping shoppers skip long waitlists for new models by offering instant access to pre-owned timepieces which have been inspected, authenticated and prepared in-house.

“The waitlists for coveted timepieces make them nearly impossible for the average consumer to purchase in time for the holidays. Most Americans can expect to wait 12 months for a new Rolex Submariner, up to 3 years for a Daytona, and 5 years for a new Audemars Piguet, Royal Oak,” said Edouard Caumon, US Country Manager for Watchfinder. “Watchfinder is giving the gift of time back to consumers this holiday season, by offering immediate access to your loved ones’ favorite models pre-owned, meaning you can focus on spending precious time with family rather than on stressful waitlists.”

You can find all of the year’s most searched for watch models available instantly on watchfinder.com now

Research of 2000 Americans conducted in December 2023 by Censuswide