It’s Friday morning, and you’re nearing the end of the work week. You’re ready to be done, and in just a few hours, you will be.

Are you looking forward to hanging out with friends, maybe over to someone’s house for dinner? Perhaps go out on the town?

Or are you planning to grab takeout and curl up on the couch with a blanket and movie?

My guess is the latter sounds more appealing. No, I don’t think you are an introvert. I just believe we as a society are hard-wired to spend more time at home.

The studies back this up.

According to Psychology Today, on a typical day, Americans spent an hour and 39 minutes longer at home in 2022 than they did in 2003.

Of course, 2022 was in the shadow of COVID, which forced us all into our homes more frequently without our choice. This increase shows me that certain parts of COVID have lingered on. Remote work, which surely creeps the at-home stats upward, continues to play a role in the American workforce.

What else is different between 2003 and 2022?

In 2003, I was in possession of my first-ever cell phone as a college sophomore. I was still a few years away from owning an iPhone, and while I did spend a good deal of time on the internet and playing video games, it seemingly paled in comparison to the modern young person, who lives and breathes with their phone serving as another body part. This has affected how people spend time together, as “virtual” connections on apps like Snapchat and TikTok are often preferred to old-fashioned face-to-face conversation.

Another thing that has changed — we as a society prefer takeout to eating in a restaurant. Using USDA data, the Escoffier School of Culinary Arts reported 57% of Americans preferred ordering takeout or delivery compared to dining at a restaurant. The top five reasons listed: More Enjoyable to Eat at Home, More Convenient to Eat at Home, Can Watch TV/Movies, Don’t Have to Cook, and Can Wear Comfortable Clothes.

With all of this adding up to our modern experience, what are we missing out on?

For one, we’re missing out on ideal mental health. In 2022, 18% of U.S. adults reported symptoms of anxiety, and 21% experienced symptoms of depression in the past two weeks. These numbers both jumped 3 percentage points from where they were in 2019. Look at a graph with anxiety/depression numbers, and you will see the prototypical left-to-right, down-to-up, rising line.

I’m no psychologist, but it’s probably not all a coincidence. Humans are designed to connect with one another, and spending so much time at home is probably not for the best, despite the allure of modern comforts.

Some of us are more wired to need others’ company, but the longing for connection is something all humans in history have felt.

I’m very interested in mental health — particularly that of young people (I have two daughters, ages 14 and 10). Anecdotally, it seems like people are mentally struggling at a higher clip. Simply put — the kids aren’t alright. Some of these stats certainly back up that notion.

Perhaps those of us leading companies should push their employees back to the office. Maybe schools should be trying even harder to create avenues for students to connect sans smartphones. Possibly, we should all seek out conversation with those different from us instead of isolating within a like-minded bubble.

It all brings me back to that Friday night decision.

Often, my inclination is to get that takeout, to find that blanket, and to turn on that TV. Sometimes, however, my wife or friends convince me to go out and do something outside of the home.

Even if it is something I might somewhat dread, I always leave the night glad I chose to be social. Time around other people is rarely regretted, for me.

Someone recently pointed out to me that through delivery services for food and groceries and remote work, one could almost entirely spend their entire life inside the home.

What kind of life would that be?

Jeremy Speer is the publisher of The Courier, Findlay, the Sandusky Register, The Advertiser-Tribune, Tiffin, the Norwalk Reflector and Review Times, Fostoria. He can be reached at jeremyspeer@thecourier.com.