New survey reveals we spend FOUR MONTHS of our lives waiting for the kettle to boil

If you’ve ever paced up and down in frustration while the rest of your family takes forever to get ready for an outing, this may not come as a complete surprise.

Apparently we spend nearly 20 months of our life waiting for our partners and children.

A survey has found that the average Briton spends almost seven years waiting around – about 11 per cent of their whole life.

Topping the list of things we wait for is food being cooked (17 months of our life), followed by children (13 months) and our partners (6.5 months). Other major time-wasters include slow technology (5.5 months), queuing (4.5 months) and boiling kettles (almost four months), according to the poll.

Topping the list of things we wait for is food being cooked (17 months of our life), followed by children (13 months)

It seems that things have got worse over time, with one in eight people (12 per cent) claiming waiting times have doubled over the last ten years.

But the way we spend our time whiling away the minutes has changed. In the past, we would read (26 per cent) or play games on our phones (13 per cent). But today, if we are not silently cursing (16 per cent), we use our smart phones for online shopping (13 per cent) or scrolling through their social media (31 per cent). In the survey of 2,000 Britons by Privilege Insurance, when asked how they would prefer to use this time, 29 per cent would spend it with their families.

Meanwhile, 22 per cent said they would rather be making some more money, and 26 per cent would try a hobby. The survey showed that 22 per cent would prefer to be sleeping instead of waiting, rising to 34 per cent among millennials.

However, 31 per cent of us do admit to enjoying waiting for things to happen, and just over half of parents of children aged three and under would also agree that waiting is their only chance for peace and quiet.