The Importance of Making Time for Leisure
The mental and physical benefits of leisure
For lots of people, leisure is like a mirage: you can see it, far far away, but you can’t reach it.
Nowadays, we are extremely busy: job, kids, house chores, late meetings, overtime. Time doesn’t stretch long enough to do everything, which leads to neglect of leisure.
What you might have already realized is that, at one point of your fast-paced life, your body will manifest its tiredness. You will be told, by yourself, that you need a break. Either is through physical exhaustion, stress, mood swings, anger, or apathy, your body will talk to you, it will alert you that you need to make some changes in your lifestyle. Most times, small changes will be enough to see improvements.
As a wise person you are — after all, you’ve been living with yourself all your life — you know how to interpret the signs your body is sending to you.
It’s time to listen to your body: take a break from your oh-so-busy-life and include quality leisure time.
What is leisure?
Oxford dictionary defines leisure as “ Time when one is not working or occupied; free time” and “ use of free time for enjoyment.”
Leisure activities include all the things you do that give you pleasure and are not work-related: it’s any type of recreational activity.
Leisure purpose is to be an escape from work and personal worries, it’s a time you take for yourself, to disconnect. It’s a shot of positivity, to take your mind away from problems and quotidian issues.
How much time of leisure is needed to benefit from it?
There is no rule for how much leisure time you should have. We are all different, with specific needs. Even your own needs will fluctuate: sometimes you’ll need more leisure time, others less.
The duration of it will be determined by your needs. One day, five or ten minutes of reading a good book will be enough to charge your energies, others you’ll need one full hour of a fitness class to take it all out of your system.
The quality of your leisure time isn’t measured by the longevity of your activity, but by the meaning you give to it.
The benefits of leisure
You will feel the positive effects of leisure time immediately, but its benefits are long-lasting, affecting positively both your physical and mental health.
Leisure reduces stress and prevents depression
If you don’t make time for yourself, stress and anxiety will kick in, sooner than later.
When you engage in a recreational activity, you free your mind. In his study Relax: Benefits of Leisure Go Beyond the Moment, Professor Matthew Zawadzki demonstrated the physical and emotional benefits of taking leisure time, namely, reduced stress levels and better mood, and a lower heart rate.
Leisure time allows you to step back — physically but most important, mentally — from stress. Your mind and body will tune, you will feel relaxed.
During leisure activities, you will be disconnected from the outside world. You will be empowering yourself to deal with situations in a less stressful way.
Improves your physical and mental health
A sedentary lifestyle puts you at risk for serious diseases — heart-related, obesity, or diabetes — and also for emotional distress. By engaging in physical leisure activities, you will improve your physical and, consequently, your mental health.
Choosing your recreational activities doesn’t have to be a jigsaw or needs an extensive plan. Be spontaneous, follow your needs and moods. One day you choose a calm walk on the beach or a park, the next available day you go surfing or a gym session. It’s your time, do whatever makes you happy.
Improves your mood
Because it’s you choosing what you’re doing in your leisure time, the activities are very likely to provide you with mental rest and pleasure. As a consequence, your mind will clear up and your mood will improve.
This control and choice-making — not always possible in your life — will make you feel more satisfied and self-fulfilled. You know that there are things that go beyond your control, but there are others that you can control. You will find it easier to manage your time and tasks, you will feel less stressed, more positive with yourself and life.
Increases your productivity
Maybe you are one of those who believes that if you have a break, your flow of ideas will be interrupted and your productivity will go down the drain. As a writer, I once believed in this wrongful concept.
Being busy isn’t the same as being productive.
If you’re immersed in your tasks without having a break, you’ll notice, at one point, your productivity decreasing: you’ll become slower, mistakes will appear. This affects negatively your productivity.
Stepping away from work — making time for leisure — will clear your mind and nourish your problem-solving skills. It will help your productivity.
When you’re overloaded with work, it’s when you more need leisure time. Your mind needs a rest, your whole body needs to re-balance. In your busy days, make the best of your lunchtime: go for a walk, sit on a bench reading a book. Make time for yourself and disconnect.
When you return to work, you’ll have a fresh mind, and a new pair of eyes to face the problems and challenges of the day.
Including recreational activities in your routine will improve your professional performance.
Promotes self-knowledge
Besides affecting physically and psychologically, leisure also has a social role.
Stressful life rhythms blur your self-awareness: you don’t have time nor energy to look into yourself, to manage properly your emotions, to make instinctive and coherent decisions. You are in a rational high-functioning mode. Your Self isn’t a priority: tasks, duties, and goals are.
Leisure is fundamental to balance your working life with your personal development: it allows you to stop, to connect with yourself. You are duty-free, you are allowed to feel, to laugh of silly things, to take deep and restorative breaths. You have time for your wellbeing.
Leisure time is all about you — to connect to your needs, wants, thought and emotions.
Knowing yourself makes you respond and react assertively to situations and prevent you to fall in a negative, stressful and depressive spiral.
Your leisure time will enrich you.
How to include leisure in your life
Despite your busy professional and familiar schedule, it is possible to find a balance between them and you. What you need to internalize is that work-life balance has to be a priority.
You have to take your leisure time seriously, it’s your health in check.
As we saw before, the time you dedicate to leisure varies: it must consider your free time and your personal needs. But to not overcomplicate it (giving space for you to find excuses not to do it), include leisure time in your life, either in small blocks (10 to 30 minutes each) and one or two bigger ones (at least one hour).
For example, you can make the compromise to use your lunchtime to go for a walk, to the gym or to sit in the park reading a book. Also, you can choose one day of the week for a bigger leisure session, like a Saturday morning hiking.
Your leisure time doesn’t have to be a lonely one. There are several emotional and social benefits in engaging in group activities, either being with friends or family.
Being realistic, make a weekly plan for your leisure time. How many days you’ll do it (at least once a week, but ideally not less than three times a week), and what time of the day you’ll do it: weekends, after work, or lunchtimes.
“Those who decide to use leisure as a means of mental development, who love good music, good books, good pictures, good plays, good company, good conversation ― what are they? They are the happiest people in the world.” ― William Lyon Phelps
Conclusion
Leisure activities are much more than killing free time. They have a positive impact on your physical and mental health.
Your life has space for leisure, you just have to make it a priority. Do it on your own, with your friends, with your partner or with your kids — but just do it, for your health.
Leisure time improves the quality of your life. this is something you want, right? So, indulge yourself with a pleasurable activity and watch your stress reduce, your mood and productivity improve and your life becomes easier to deal with.
Leisure won’t take your problems away, but it will definitely help you to cope better with them and even provide you with the skills and tools to deal with them more efficiently.
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