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Linked – Be Intentional About How You Spend Your Time Off

ByMike McBride Reading Time: 2 minutes

I’ve been talking about being intentional quite a bit lately, so finding this article from a couple of years ago was interesting:

“A common suggestion for preventing burnout is to take regular breaks away from work. But what should those breaks look like if we want to maximize rejuvenation and protect our well-being? It may be surprising to learn, but passive “rest and relaxation” isn’t as effective for recovering from the daily grind as using breaks to accomplish your goals — not your work goals, but your personal goals. Examples include spending time with friends and family, pursuing your hobbies, or even organizing your closet.”

Unfortunately, I do believe we are taught the opposite of this. We are expected to work harder and harder and then use our time off to rest so that we can go back and do it some more. It’s all focused on being a good worker, but this study seems to indicate that we are all better off focusing on other parts of our lives during the time we spend away from work. Maybe, just maybe, we are more than our jobs. Maybe when we spend the energy and focus on other parts of our lives enough to plan them out and be intentional about them, we’re happier.

What a concept.

It might also mean that we don’t have to make all of our friends at work or do all of our socializing with coworkers. Work can just be part of what we do during the day.

With that said, now tell me how it’s perfectly fine to spend hundreds of hours per year commuting when it’s not necessary. Imagine what else we could intentionally use that time to do.

https://hbr.org/2021/12/be-intentional-about-how-you-spend-your-time-off

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