Prioritizing your time is one of the most important elements to building a successful career –– and a happy life. Not only is it crucial to make time for the little things like day-to-day tasks, but you need to know how to manage big projects as well. Whether you deal in office space planning projects or you manage a retail location, your success at work is contingent in large part on how you spend your free time. Developing healthy habits and hobbies to challenge and energize you will do wonders for your professional career, and personal life. With that in mind, let’s look at five ways you can better yourself while relaxing at the same time.
Take a Walk
Getting the blood flowing is a wonderful way to improve your productivity. Whether you take a constitutional before you go into work, walk around the block after lunch, or you prefer to walk in the evenings, budget some time out to move around in the fresh air.
Read –– Early and Often
People who read in their free time are more in tune with the feelings of those around them. In addition to increasing your empathy, it’s never a bad thing to read about different places, people, and concepts to broaden your mind.
Puzzles
Solving puzzles are a fun way to engage your brain. If you’re feeling stressed or run-down after a long day, dust off an old puzzle from the shelf. Or if you prefer, look for a puzzle game online. Stimulate your brain and have a blast while doing it.
Learn an Instrument
If the last time you tried to play an instrument was in high school, it’s definitely time to pick it up again. Whether you revisit an instrument you used to be familiar with, or you decide to start from scratch, teaching yourself how to play is an amazing and rewarding mental exercise. Learning an instrument might prove a tactical challenge at first, but the reward is more than worth it.
Share What You’re Passionate About
We all feel strongly about different things –– our career paths, our pets, sports teams, or baking recipes. The key to nurturing your love of a productive hobby is to make sure you share it with others. Whether that means cooking for family and friends, or comparing notes on a book with a friend hundreds of miles away –– we all feel the need to express ourselves, and the desire to communicate with others about it. And learning to involve others and collaborate with them is a fabulous habit in and of itself to cultivate. Remember: we’re happiest, healthiest, and sharpest when we’re engaging with others.
