StatePoint—Nearly all Americans un­derstand that relaxation time is essential to good health, yet most of us don’t spend nearly enough time unwinding during a typical day or week.

While our society acknowledges that kicking back is indispensable, we don’t seem to be practicing what we preach. Indeed, 99 percent of Americans think relaxation is im­portant, yet they actually spend less than 5 percent of their day relaxing, according a new independent research study commissioned by Princess Cruises.

The goal of the research was to better understand the latest trends about how many of us actually relax and how we go about doing it.

Nearly half of Americans report they’re more stressed than their significant other, with a whopping 82 percent of men indicat­ing that their partner is the stressed out one.

Music topped the list of relaxation tech­niques for those surveyed, with 48 percent reporting music helps them take it easy. In­terestingly, only 18 percent find exercise is a good relaxation tool.

The most surprising findings were that relaxation causes 62 percent of parents to feel guilty and that nearly one third of Amer­icans surveyed reported being stressed out simply by the thought of relaxing!

So try to beat the odds and make time to unwind.