Everyone needs a break from work once in a while. Ever since the pandemic hit, many have been pretty much stuck inside their homes, working all day, every day. It is crucial to find things to look forward to during the day. Life is too short to suffer from work from home burnout.
A lot of people, especially new employees, have the belief that they are supposed to enjoy themselves only on the weekends. This does not have to be true. You are allowed to plan your day to ensure you stay productive and efficient with your workload. We’ve listed some hobbies that are easier to incorporate into a work-from-home lifestyle, to give your brain time to adjust after work.
Hobbies to Give Your Brain a Break
Music
Music is a truly beautiful and therapeutic companion. According to ED Times, “music can transform the emotions and feelings of people within no time.” Listening to music is like getting a wonderful massage. It has the power to heal people, especially at their worst possible moments. When people listen to music, they feel the emotions of the song.
Music makes work more enjoyable. According to BBC News, “Music stimulates the brain, which in turn helps with pain relief, reducing stress, and memory.” It gives you the motivation to stay productive and be happy to come to work every day. Music means creativity. Music can help you bring out a fresh perspective on designs you create for certain projects.
Arts & Crafts
Art comes in all forms, including crafting, coloring, painting, sketching, and many more. Art taps into the innermost feelings of a person. It allows you to express yourself through colors, shapes, and objects. For example, if you use a color palette of red, black, and green, it could symbolize the emotions of anger and jealousy. According to NPR, “When you make art, you’re making a series of decisions — what kind of drawing utensil to use, what color, how to translate what you’re seeing onto the paper.” This will help you increase your confidence in decision-making skills at work.
It will give you the chance to take initiative on your projects so that you can step it up in every way possible. Along with art comes patience. We’ve all been told that patience is a virtue. Art tests your patience. When it comes to coloring and painting, you train your brain to ensure that you “stay inside the lines.” This is a great form of self-expression and self-therapy.
Cooking and Baking
Food is an art form that you can eat. We all have those stressful moments at work where we just want to end up expressing our thoughts and feelings through food. In other words, the desire to stress eat. According to the Food Network, several foods help cope with anxiety, such as chocolate, nuts, carrots, yogurt, bananas, and avocados. Cooking can help you let out your emotions so that they don’t get in the way of your productivity at work. According to Medium, “Food is medicine to the soul. No matter how angry you become, the smell of your favorite food can sweep away whatever is bothering you as if your mind is transported to another planet by just the aroma.” It can allow you to manage your time wisely so that you can master the art of multi-tasking and it can help you focus. You can adapt this skill to work too! For example, you were working on writing a blog, it’s up to you to finalize the creative process from the beginning, middle, and end.
At the same time, baking is also a wonderful form of relaxation. Just the thought of hot chocolate chip cookies in the oven will allow you to indulge yourself in the beautiful aroma of chocolate and let yourself breathe again. We all have those “funky” days at work where we slip into a funk. Sweets and treats will turn that frown upside-down and motivate you to smile at your desk again.
Watching Television or Movies
Watching movies and TV shows can get you to expand your imagination. Depending on the genre, movies and TV shows transport you into brand-new worlds and take you on amazing adventures. They divert your mind to the point where it feels relaxed and amused. According to Quora, “you feel rejuvenated, de-stressed, and realize that you had, even for a few hours at least, forgotten about the troubles of day-to-day life.” Movies and TV shows can also inspire you. They allow you to develop a fresh perspective on aspects of your life, such as work-related issues including mental health and work-from-home burnout.
Gauge Employee Mental Health with PxidaEX
Mental health is just as important as physical health. Like it or not, work from home burnout is absolutely real. The best way to retain employees is to check in on their mental health and encourage them to take mental health days for themselves. Lucky for you, PxidaEX is the perfect tool to help you figure out exactly how your employees are doing, in and outside of work. Gather their feedback on what aspects of work excite them and which drag them down so that your human resources know how to help them succeed!