Healthy leisure vs. extracurriculars: You can choose any of them
Firstly, it is vital to create a schedule, even if you want it to be flexible. A concrete schedule allows you to adapt to the daily routine at the psychological level. It is advantageous in terms of avoiding the need to push yourself into anything difficult. For example, you may desire to do outdoor exercises every morning, though waking up early or going out in the street when it is cold can demotivate you. Once you develop a habit that interconnects with an everyday schedule, you will start doing such things rather automatically, and it will take you less energy to complete assigned tasks as a result. Eventually, it will become easier for you to proceed with all tasks of the day. Secondly, you have to understand which leisure routine activities bring you real advantages and disadvantages. What is more, it is beneficial to combine activities. While it saves your time, it makes them brighter and more entertaining: you can listen to an audio book while washing your face, you can listen to peaceful classical music while reading a book with a relevant atmosphere, or you can even take little breaks while studying to do a bit of exercise.
So, what’s the matter?
These principles help to structure your day with maximal benefit. Such combinations of activities also allow looking at the daily routine from a different point of view, realizing that boring things are not like that actually. Let me provide a personal example of how it works. I have found out that spending my time writing posts, comments, and simple messages in chats steals my time, although I believe that cooperation and self-expression are needed and essential. At the same time, I have paid attention to the pleasant intellectual and emotional stimuli that I receive from movies. However, I would never think that laying down on a sofa and re-watching Harry Potter can bring me any positive results. As a paradox, I would never say that devoting time to watching movies is more righteous than to the immediate interaction with friends and colleagues. And the issue is that when I nurture myself culturally, either by watching films or reading books, it broadens my mind and benefits my communication with others. I have more ideas to share and understand my peers better. Thus, being stuck to the iPhone because of continuous chatting is not the same. The latter only redirects my energy to some empty digital space and it seems that I only lose my time if I’m to be honest.
And now, let’s check popular elements of the leisure routine that can make your day both more satisfying and productive:
- Reading books instead of online forums
- Watching movies or TV series instead of personal vlogs
- Going for a walk or doing some exercises
- Devoting time to visualization
- Making a phone call to someone dear
- Grounding in self-care
#1. Reading books as a daily psychological treatment
– Helps you to become more concentrated;
– Stimulates your self-reflection;
– Enables to understand others’ motives at the psychological level;
– Broadens your imagination.
Oh, yes, yes, this one can sound so typical. “Just read more books,” they say. Nonetheless, no one really tries to defend the necessity of this piece of advice. But reading books is indeed a precious addition to the daily routine. For example, did you know that reading fiction supports your mental health? In the twenty-first century, mental health is not a new topic. Everyone is aware of how it impacts our professional achievements or established relationships, and books can help here too. Scientists have proven that classic literature lets readers deepen into the world of emotions. It is beneficial for learning how to interpret others’ intentions thanks to getting familiar with human psychology secrets.
While this activity is useful for establishing proper social contacts and maintaining healthy relations, it brings profit for self-reflection too. Readers either sympathize with the characters or criticize them because events in the books make them question whether they would act the same there and there or not. Furthermore, reading books increases your self-esteem when you reach the minimum goal of the complete ones. It makes you proud of yourself for trying to enrich your regime with something sophisticated and intellectual. As a result, reading at least twenty pages per day can do miracles to your smart habits and thinking clarity.
#2. Watching movies to observe the world
– Impacts your awareness of psychology positively;
– Provides a perfect occasion to express emotions;
– Shows the world from multiple perspectives;
– Helps you to accept people from different cultures.
Contemporary movies can tell about any part of this world, although they can bring the audience to any era as well. Films neither exhaust you nor exploit your free time, but their emotional tone can always help you relieve stress or to accumulate your inner strength if you are searching for inspiration. Some movies can make you laugh even when you are alone in the room and some can make you cry and let you unblock some feelings. Thanks to modern technologies, watching movies anywhere has become as accessible as reading books (or e-books).
Simultaneously, you are always one step away from a brand new realm that can make your day more exciting. Watching movies either leads you to the exploration of scientific innovations or getting engaged with some romantic intrigues. Spectating actors’ emotions is the same as deepening into the emotional world of the book heroes. It helps the audience to detect unspoken messages behind the facial expressions and predict people’s further actions in time, which is a fantastic advantage for personal development and socialization. You learn that people are different and that each historical era has its light and dark sides, becoming culturally advanced.
#3. Take a refreshing walk or initiate a quick exercise session
– An easy way to support physical culture;
– An opportunity to breathe some fresh air;
– Listen to your favorite music or audio books;
– Improves your sleeping routine.
Sometimes, nothing can be better for setting your mind than a short walk. You can discover new streets or pass through the ones you enjoy the most. It can be a walk in the park with a delightful green environment or even your dear pet either. Walking does not require much energy, although anyone can devote at least half of an hour to help their body relax in such an easy way. Other benefits of walking include the possibility to combine it with listening to music that fits your mood or inviting someone to accompany you. The luxury of walking is free, which underlines its usefulness within any routine. Walks benefit your sleeping routine too, helping you to fall asleep at the end of the day.
Depending on your situational requests, you can turn walking into an energizing action or into a calming one, and exercising is the same. Caring about the needs of your body has to be as prioritized as defending your mental state. While many people imagine physical culture as something that takes a lot of time, it is possible to integrate with your activities throughout the day. Even if you have to sit still in several lectures the entire day or have no option to leave your office during the working shift, it is always possible to find at least five minutes to make some elementary moves. The latter can include step-ups, squats, or jumps. Doing even the minimum of them is certainly better than leaving your body mistreated and doing nothing to help it at all.
#4. Visualize your dreams to move further
– Clarify what you want;
– Widen the scope of your desires;
– Start integrating your visions with your reality;
– Become closer to your goals.
Moving forward is a priority for millions of people, and the majority still lack the inner intention to do it constantly. You are probably familiar with a strange feeling after having achieved some goal because of a sudden loss of the sense of action. When you have a concrete goal, you can work for it and feel happy when you finally reach it. But once you have gotten to the desired destination, you feel lost and cannot understand where to move next. The secret is that no one is born with an accurate vision of what they have to do to succeed in this life. Some people search for a single mission and others wish to reach multiple goals. In any case, visualizing dreams is a highly demanded practice.
Modern opportunities present different visualization methods, you can even create a dashboard with the items of your dreams or a blog on the Internet with vivid pictures. However, visualization does not demand you to use any tools if you do not want to. It is enough to think about your dreamy objects while trying to fall asleep or looking through them in local boutiques or libraries in real life. If you dream to become a socially influential personality, try finding an inspiring building of the institution of power where you would simply like to work every day and come there regularly. Encourage visiting theaters and cinemas if you wish to become an actor or fashion courses attendance if you want to become famous in this industry.
#5. Phone someone instead of chatting
– Keep your contact alive;
– Express your emotions and opinions to the full extent;
– Show that you care;
– Support your social circle.
Phone calls have become out of trend. It is possible to explain with a range of reasons. For example, making phone calls is not allowed during studying or working sessions, though it is optimal to respond online with a message. Chatting online makes people get used to doing it all the time and phone calls can become even a sign of interruptive behavior. You have probably heard jokes about people being afraid because of a sudden suspicious phone call. Thus, fighting fears is an ever-lasting challenge because they complicate our life and prevent us from enjoying it completely. For example, it is also common to see how contemporary society worries about the lack of real-life communication.
In addition, chatting online does not allow us to express our emotions or thoughts to the full extent. Messengers popularize emojis and gifs to compensate for the lack of face-to-face interaction, there are also options for leaving an audio message. Such features become obligatory for trendy apps because texting is not as easy as it seems, although it does not satisfy many users. On the other hand, phoning someone has become a modern way to prove that you care about someone and that you are genuinely involved with their problems. Maintaining your relations at the appropriate level is advantageous for your social outcomes.
#6. Grounding self-care for the sake of higher goals
– Harmonizing your mental and physical needs;
– Developing compassion for your surroundings;
– Finding happiness in being united;
– Nurturing your soul;
The race for achieving some heavenly high goals has become so overrated that recent trends have started calling for grounding instead. You may strive to conquer space, but preserving contact with the natural environment is necessary under any conditions. It is more than trying to balance your physical and spiritual existence. When you are able to understand that everything is interconnected, body and soul, nature and life, you become wiser and capable of having compassion for your surroundings. You can research the Internet to identify local troubles in your area to join activists and make the world kinder.
Activism in any sphere leads to the realization that unity is power. You can make your existence content thanks to helping animals or people in need. It can be the promotion of financial charity or online activism that spreads important information which can save hundreds of lives. Caring about down-to-earth needs is key to nurturing your soul. Even though it can sound absurd, your spirit and body cannot exist without each other, which means that you have to emphasize their wellness equally. However, participating in global problem-solving lifts your spirit up to a similar level.
