There are all sorts of different everyday leisure activities that you might be engaged in, ranging from things like sports and outdoor recreation, to board games, and attending concerts. For the most part, it’s probably fair to say that leisure activities tend to get used primarily as a way of resting and unwinding. Work is exhausting, but leisure activities are a way of relaxing and decompressing. Just because leisure activities can work wonders when it comes to helping us to recharge by default, however, that doesn’t mean that there aren’t ways of getting more and less out of your fun pastimes. Here are 3 tips for getting the most from your leisure activities.
By Team Savant
Image: Serenay Tosun
Find the right balance between solo activities and activities done with other people
As humans, we all need to find the right balance in our day-to-day lives between direct interaction with other people, and time spent by ourselves, in order to thrive.
This may be especially important when it comes to the leisure activities we pursue and engage in — because leisure activities have, throughout the ages, been some of the things that people have most come together and bonded over.
Today, with more and more leisure time being spent on the web and through solo digital pastimes and activities, there’s a real risk of the balance being lost altogether.
Playing some video games by yourself can be fun and relaxing, but it won’t give you the deeper kind of connection that playing some board games with other people likely will. Even playing video games online with other people will lack the real connection of being together in one place, face to face.
Where possible, immerse yourself in your leisure activities and make them more tangible
One of the reasons why there’s still a niche interest in Mechanical Music Auctions and forms of media such as vinyl records — even today in the age of music streaming services — is because these more traditional forms of media can make enjoying the art more of an immersive experience.
Instead of listening to an MP3 while drinking your morning coffee, you take a record off the shelf, stop to appreciate the album art, place the record on your turntable and sit down to appreciate it.
Where possible, immersing yourself in your leisure activities and making them more tangible can make the overall experience richer, more memorable, and more enjoyable.
Make time for some leisure activities that leave you feeling good once you’re done with them, not just during
Certain leisure activities can be really fun while you’re engaging in them, but might leave you feeling frustrated afterwards — as if you’ve just wasted a bunch of time.
Watching a great film in the cinema will probably leave you feeling pretty good. But binge-watching several seasons of a show over the duration of your entire weekend, without getting anything else done, may leave you feeling less good.
Get a sense for which leisure activities leave you feeling good and rejuvenated once you’re done with them, and not just during, and aim to emphasise these.