There’s a weird and tragic trend that’s taken place over the last century or so, which is that people all around the world have become generally far better off in a variety of easy-to-track ways, including things like material well-being, access to healthcare, and more.
And yet, for a long time now there has been a trend reported in various surveys and studies showing that people are becoming more stressed, anxious, and depressed as time goes on.
Of course, life is full of serious things that need to be dealt with. It might be that you have a vulnerable elderly relative to care for, and need to investigate services such as an attorney for nursing home abuse, for example.
And if you have kids, you will certainly have plenty on your plate in that regard.
All the same, the author, Celeste Headlee, reckons that a big part of the solution for burnout is allowing for more unstructured leisure time in your life instead of just trying to use every minute as productively as possible.
So, here are a few ways that a bit more unstructured leisure may help your family life.
- By relieving chronic stress and improving your mood
If you are a very driven and entrepreneurial person, there is a good chance that when you come home from work, you have a natural tendency to try and structure your leisure time as if it was work as well.
Maybe you set yourself all sorts of metrics to track during the day – like how many minutes of exercise you get, and whether you spend your evening working on your side hustle instead of doing something like watching TV or reading a book.
Suffice to say, a system like this doesn’t leave much room at all for actually relaxing and recharging your batteries.
Simply having a bit more unstructured leisure time in your life might work wonders for helping you to relieve chronic stress and improve your mood. This, then, will obviously have a positive knock-on effect on the other members of your household.
- By helping to introduce a few more laughs and a bit more easy entertainment to the household
The moments and interactions that make a household feel warm and welcoming, and that bring the various members of the family together, are often going to be those moments where everyone is able to relax for a while and can bond around something like a funny movie, a board game, or even just casual conversation. Invest your time to tell your grandchildren about your past, your failure, successes, and achievements. Prepare a life story interview questions that highlight what your grandchildren may want to know. It is a valuable opportunity to get to know our relatives better. Unstructured leisure time in your home can help to increase the number of these moments that come about and can help you to appreciate the small blessings of everyday life in a more direct and meaningful way.
Unstructured leisure time in your home can help to increase the number of these moments that come about, and can help you to appreciate the small blessings of everyday life in a more direct and meaningful way.
- By making you more productive and effective at your work
There’s a misconception out there that the more you work, the more productive you will naturally be.
According to Headlee’s book, “Do Nothing,” however, this isn’t actually true. In fact, she cites research that paints a completely different picture – namely that employees who take their full annual vacation allowance, as well as weekends off, are actually more productive than those who work through the entire year without a break.
There’s something about relaxed, unstructured leisure time that seems to help people to recharge their batteries and tackle the challenges of their professional lives more effectively, and with more energy and insight.
Having a balance in your life – and factoring in some unstructured leisure – may actually make you more successful in terms of your career aspirations. This, of course, will likely only be good for your family.
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