Are you experiencing an unbelievable amount of stress at work? At home? Maybe just within yourself? Stress is unavoidable. But what really matters is how you cope with your struggles in life. How you keep on living and not just surviving.
With this, it is important to do something or some things that can keep you calm and perfectly fine. Aside from watching television shows and listening to music, there are other ways that you can entertain yourself and fulfill at the same time.
A gratifying and fulfilling hobby outside your career is one of the most helpful things that you can do to keep sane. It is something that makes you happy, something to look forward to during the day. It is not supposed to be as stressful as your day job.
Why is it important to have a hobby?
You are not put to this world just to make money and feed people. You also need to take care of yourself and have fun. Studies even suggest that having something enjoyable to do is good for your health. All hobbies reduce your anxiety level, encourages you to take a break from making a living and do something that you love for a little while. By doing this, you can learn continuously and discover more of yourself and keep yourself grounded.
So when you go back to work the next day, you’re going to be fresh and smiling. More importantly, you can perform your tasks with more confidence and competence.
1. Gardening
While this is a fun and relaxing way to spend your time with nature, there are also health benefits from gardening. Both mental and physical. Aside from your exposure to vitamin D, you are already exercising your body with all the running around and the lifting. With this, you also lower your risk of developing long-term illnesses such as diabetes, heart disease, and hypertension.
For your mental health, gardening reduces your stress and anxiety levels. It fights loneliness thus lowering the risk of depression. Plus, you decrease the chances of having dementia as you get older.
2. Puzzles
Crossword, jigsaw, word search, trivia. You name it. Doing puzzles as a hobby has many benefits too. The best thing that you can gain from doing puzzles is brain exercise. Whether you’re doing it alone or with someone else, it can increase your attention to detail and your hand-eye coordination. It also escalates your productivity since it’s a good way to practice goal-setting.
There are many gaming apps that you can download for free in every app store. If you’re still into old-school jigsaws or legos, you can always find some 500 or 1000-piece puzzles in toy stores in your area.
3. Coloring books
What was once an activity just for kids, adult coloring is now one of the hobbies people do in their free days to have a relaxing time. It is said to be a form of meditation as it helps reduce negative thoughts, stress, and anxiety. Aside from this, it also helps adults to focus, promoting mindfulness since it keeps them away from social media which is a major kind of distraction.
4. Arts and crafts
While this is another activity that too was done by children only, adults can benefit from doing arts and crafts as well. Like coloring books, this is also a good way to take a break from work and social media.
A study shows that the more you engage with artistic and social activities, the lower your risk of cognitive impairment.
You can find tutorial blogs and videos all over the internet. If you want to do this regularly, you can also find monthly craft subscriptions online where they serve you with different products that you can use in your arts and crafts sessions.
5. Volunteering
Whether you’re volunteering in a children’s charity or an environmental organization, having a service-centered hobby is beneficial not just for yourself, but, obviously, for others as well.
Volunteering connects you to different people, increasing the chances of you gaining friends and maintain valued relationships. Since you have another organization to go to after work, this can improve your self-confidence and perform better in your career and personal growth.
6. Taking online courses
Not only online courses are for your career growth, but also for your personal development. There are many courses that you can learn from such as languages, budgeting and financing, cooking and baking, and even gym classes.
Learning is a never-ending process in life. The more you make yourself knowledgeable, the more you can handle the struggles of life. There are always things that you think you already know, but you really don’t. Taking courses can keep you grounded.
