A New Year’s resolution that will make you happier
There is a new year around the corner and many people take this opportunity to make New Years resolutions. A quick google on the theme “Top ten New Years resolutions”reveal peoples most desired wishes and goals for the new year. Not surprisingly people long for more sleep, better health and to be less stressed. But the question is how do we achieve this? In a recent study [1] the effect of leisure time as a resource to cope with daily stressors was investigated. Not surprisingly, was found that allocating leisure time on highly stressful days increases positive affects. Taking the time to break from daily activities and work may be crucial to psychological well-being. Beside the positive effect on stress, leisure activities increase subjective well-being and promotes high life satisfaction. Another large study [2] indicated that high life satisfaction was associated with engaging in a number of different activities rather than the frequency of said activities. The key finding to why leisure activities contributes to higher life satisfaction is social interaction. Through participation in activities people uphold and form new social relationships, feel more positive emotions and acquire further skills and knowledge and hence improve their quality of life.
With this in mind Skillbreak is a perfect way to engage in leisure activities. Skillbreak offers hands on learning experiences with a precise learning outcome. The arrangement of Skillbreak is unique, you can take as many or as few as you like and therefore even you can find the way to allocate leisure time and boost your well-being. As above mentioned it is not the frequency of your engagement in a leisure activity that counts, rather it is the number of different activities. It also seems that a great variety of activities increases your happiness. In another research review [3], findings from eight different studies showed that spending time on more varied activities over a longer period often makes people happier but varied activities across an hour makes people less happy. Variety over a longer time period like a day makes the time feel more stimulating and on the other hand variety over shorter time like an hour makes the time feel less productive. So in the pursuit of happiness – stop multitasking and enroll for a class at Skillbreak.
Happy new year!
Jennifer Amin
B.A. in psychology and psychology candidate at Habitud
Källor:
1. Association of enjoyable leisure activities with psychological and physical well-being.
Pressman SD, Matthews KA, Cohen S, Martire LM, Scheier M, Baum A, Schulz R Psychosom Med. 2009 Sep; 71(7):725-32.2. Association of enjoyable leisure activities with psychological and physical well-being.
Pressman SD, Matthews KA, Cohen S, Martire LM, Scheier M, Baum A, Schulz R3. Does variety among activities increase happiness?
Etkin, Jordan and Mogilner, Cassie