Playing and Hobbies Aren’t a Waste of Time

Posted on October 20, 2017 · Leave a Comment

We know that playing is good for young children. We encourage them play, solve fun puzzles, and use their imagination. It’s an important part of growing up and learning to think for themselves. It’s also a great way to encourage creative thinking. The good news is that kids aren’t the only ones who will benefit from playing and spending time on hobbies. There’s no cut-off date when we no longer benefit from those leisurely pursuits.

Society tries to tell us that taking out time to play, craft, play a sport, learn a language, play an instrument, and other ways of having fun with others is a waste of time for adults. As it turns out, society is wrong. Taking the time to have fun and doing something completely different from what you do for a living is very beneficial.

We’ve talked at length how creative thinking works and how we need lots of different ideas and experiences to give our minds something to work with. It turns out that playing is the perfect way to do that. Those hobbies you have may be very different from your day job and that’s a good thing. They give you more data and help your brain come up with creative ideas by making connections between seemingly unrelated things.

To get better at creative thinking, make time for hobbies and play. Come back to some things you enjoyed before you decided you didn’t have time for hobbies anymore. Try something new and see if you like it. Find some enjoyable things to do in your spare time. This will be time much better spent than catching up on work after hours or flopping down in front of the TV.

Don’t pick a hobby because it seems particularly enriching. Pick something that seems like fun. Take the pressure off yourself. Think back to our earlier post about giving the mind a rest. A hobby or even spending a couple of hours playing a video game or goofing off with the kids isn’t a waste of time. It’s a great way to give your mind a rest and create some very different syntactical connections in your brain.

The fact that you’re having fun and relaxing is an added bonus. That will help with you attitude and positivity. In the end, you’ll come back to work the next day in a much better frame of mind, more rested, and with a mind bursting full of creative ideas. Try and it and see for yourself. Most importantly make the time to go out and play. Pick up those favorite hobbies again, and don’t be afraid to try something new.

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Filed Under: 30 Day Challenges, Positive and Creative Thinking Tagged With: , , , ,

Embrace Your Hobbies And Interests

Posted on August 30, 2017 · Leave a Comment

Over the past few days we’ve taken a look at how we spend our time, what we spend it on and what may be sucking time away from us. In other words, we started to be more intentional on how we spend our time and what we spend it on. That leaves quite a few hours each week open to new things. When we’re no longer watching TV mindlessly, or let social media suck us in, we have time to do the things we thought we simply didn’t have time for.

Today I want to encourage you to embrace your hobbies and interests. Do you remember having all afternoon, weekends, and school holidays to do what you loved to do? Without the obligations of adulthood, it’s easy to enjoy a hobby or explore other interests. When we become adults, it can become tougher to sneak in those activities between everything that has to be done. We often let go of the things we enjoy doing to the most. It’s time to take back that joy and pick up those hobbies and interests again …or even find something new to try.

Hobbies are an important part of living with purpose. They give balance to our lives and allow us to spend some much needed time on something we enjoy. They help us distress and are fun. For example, if you work in an office job where you spend most of your time working away at the computer all day, it can be tough to see the fruits of your labor. You work hard, but at the end of the day, you don’t see anything in front of you that shows what you’ve accomplished. To balance this out, consider a hobby like gardening, sewing, knitting, or woodworking. Spend an hour in the evening on your favorite hobby and you can actually see, feel, and touch the progress you’ve made.

Hobbies can also help us unwind and let go of all the stress and anxiety that has built up over the workday. This in turn is good for our health and mental wellbeing. People with relaxing hobbies like playing music, crafting, painting, or gardening to name a few tend to sleep better and feel more refreshed when they can engage with their favorite past time.

Hobbies also give us a chance to connect with other like-minded individuals. There are classes, groups, clubs, and even guilds for all sorts of different things. Or you can simply form your own group. Find a few other cycling enthusiasts and start organizing group rides on the weekends. Start a monthly book club for a chance to discuss your favorite works of fiction with other readers. Embrace your hobbies and interests and make them part of your everyday life again.

Filed Under: 30 Day Challenges, Living with Purpose Tagged With: , ,

Do What You’re Good At and What Makes You Happy On A Regular Basis

Posted on June 10, 2017 · Leave a Comment

We all have things we want to do and look forward too, and things we dread doing. Roasting a chicken for dinner may be something you enjoy, while cleaning the toilet doesn’t make that list. While it would be fun to only do the things we enjoy, that isn’t feasible. What we can do, is use the things we’re good at, the things we enjoy doing, and the things that make us happy to boost our confidence so we have the energy and will-power to do the things we don’t like as much, but that also need to get done.

It’s very draining when everything we need to do each day are things we don’t enjoy. Our entire attitude is negative and it feels like an uphill battle. We feel defeated from step one. We’ve all had those days, or even times in our lives and it’s not a good feeling. It’s important to make sure you do something regularly that you’re good at, take pride in, and that you enjoy. It doesn’t have to be your favorite activity on a daily basis, but it should be something that you can do without too much effort.

For example, you may be good at putting together reports and compiling complicated data into an easy to read and digest format. It may not be your favorite thing in the world to do, but it’s something you know you’re good at. That can be a good daily task that will give you a boost in confidence.

Having a favorite hobby and making time to do that is another great option. Maybe you take a lot of pride in your garden, or love the feeling of finishing a woodworking or knitting project. If that gives you a boost of confidence and makes you happy, carve out some time for it regularly. Maybe you can work on your project for a half an hour before bedtime, or maybe you dedicate an afternoon to it on the weekend.

It’s important to incorporate these tasks and activities because they give you the energy and drive to tackle the stuff you dread (like cleaning the toilet). Start by thinking about what you’re either good at, or what you really love to do. Write it down so you have a short list of activities to work from that will boost your confidence on a regular basis. From there it’s simply a matter of making sure you incorporate at least one of them each day. Get in the habit of doing that and you’ll quickly start to notice a measurable improvement in your attitude and self-confidence. Use that positive energy to carry you through the tasks you don’t enjoy as much.

Filed Under: 30 Day Challenges, Courage and Confidence Tagged With: , , , , ,