How Leisure & Recreation Contributes to Wellbeing
Are you one of those people who, admirably, always puts others first – even while longing to take time for yourself? Do you still push through to help them out, even when you know you’re in worse shape, and they are clearly offloading? Do you find it hard to say ‘No’? Are you that one person in the family or team who finds themselves being busy, when everyone else is chilling or chatting?
Perhaps you’re so busy with work, school, and home life that often there is no time left over to do something that you enjoy?
What follows are some insights into why it’s essential to look out for yourself, and some ways to carve out that essential time you need to slow down, enjoy life, and refresh yourself, mentally and physically.
The Importance of Self-Care
The first point to make is that this is not about being selfish and putting yourself first all the time. It’s about recognizing that you deserve and need the same opportunity to recover from hard work as everyone else. You don’t have to put yourself ahead of others, just equal to them.
It’s all about balance. We are all busier than ever, so finding ways to balance the pressures of work, life and relationships with physical and mental wellbeing is important.
In today’s ‘always-on’ society, taking time for yourself can sometimes be looked upon as being selfish or unproductive. You have a job to do, kids to parent, house tasks to get through, bills to pay - and the list goes on. How can you possibly justify taking time out for self-care without feeling guilty that you’re neglecting someone or something that’s more important?!
The truth is that without self-care, you’re not giving yourself a fighting chance to give your best to each and every aspect of your life. If you don’t take care of your own needs first, you’ll find yourself burnt out and struggling before you know it.
Prioritizing time to do things for yourself will not only make you happy and keep you sane, but it will probably also make you more efficient when tackling the less fun commitments and to-do list items.
We’ve gathered together Guilt-Free Ways to Make More Time for Yourself.
Staying Resourceful (resource-full)
Proactivity is a strategy for continued resourcefulness. If you’re aiming to stay well and enjoy life there’s a discipline that underpins all of it – investing in yourself proactively so that you always have the energy and enthusiasm to be at your best. If you are in a cycle of collapsing on Fridays and dreading Mondays, you’re probably not being proactive enough to maintain your resourcefulness.
If you structure your day or week to make sure everything that needs to get done, gets done, then shifting to a proactive approach to wellness means including your leisure time and opportunities for relaxation in your schedule too, rather than putting it last and ‘getting round to it’ if there’s time. Plan time for it in the same way as you would in other areas of life and follow through with the same commitment to your own needs as you’d give to the needs of others. Being resourceful helps you to ride out life’s challenges and bounce back from setbacks and disappointments that might otherwise floor you, and importantly, ensures you can continue to be there to help.
Direct Health Benefits
Taking part in recreational activities, especially outdoors, is shown to greatly improve physical and mental health, and helps manage stress. People who take part in activities such as walking, cycling, hiking, or skiing, make fewer doctors’ visits, maintain lower body fat percentages, and have lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels.
Taking time to nurture and invest in yourself provides a sense of balance and self-esteem, which can directly reduce anxiety and depression, and improve the overall quality of your life.
So, don’t wait - get out and play!
So, to recap
Make time for leisure and recreation sacrosanct in your weekly routines.
Work hard on becoming more proactive in maintaining your health and building resilience.
Prioritize your own needs as much as you prioritize the needs of others.
Keep the commitments you make to yourself with the same discipline you keep the commitments you make to others.
Replace habits that steal your time and energy with ones the optimise your day.
Balance your time and energy so that all aspects of your life can be enjoyed.
Maintain the disciplines and routines that fueled your early success as you get busier.
Use your reserves of energy and vitality to the benefit of others.
Being awesome starts with Living Well
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