First work and obligations and later, leisure time and self care. It’s something cultural and we see it as something logical and normal, which is why we always tend to relegate this area of life to “when there’s time”: ‘If I have time, I’ll meet a friend’, ‘if I have time I’ll go to give me a ride’…
But really ours leisure time and self-care is more important than we think for our well-being and mental health. And therefore, to perform better in our work and better solve daily tasks and day-to-day obligations.
“Actually, it shouldn’t be called leisure because it seems to be something minor, it should be called what it is: essential activities for our life, for our physical and mental health,” he tells laSexta.com Santiago Cid, psychologist and director of the center that bears his name: Santiago Cid Psychology Center (Madrid).
We must bear in mind -adds this expert- that our very nature requires the fulfillment of essential activities such as, for example, socialize, something that we include in the leisure part. For example, meeting a friend for coffee or a neighbor for a short walk. And we are social beings.
It is true that as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, things have changed a world -and the world- and now we give much more importance to mental health. And the data leaves no room for doubt: according to IPSOSsince 2020 concern about mental health in Spain has increased by 19 points.
However, according to figures published by the V Health and Lifestyle Study of Aegón, published at the end of this past September, 30.8% of Spaniards consider that their mental health has worsened in the last 12 months, and only 11.3% indicated an improvement in their psychological health.
In addition, and according to this work, almost 90% of those surveyed said they had suffered some symptom of depression and anxiety in the last year and both in probable cases of anxiety and depression in the last year.
Do not consider essential activities as an “extra”
It is important that we have time for ourselves every day. “Every day there should be a dose of pleasure and give us essential activities: socialization, sports, healthy eating, time to reconcile our work and family life and time to take care of ourselves and take care of ourselvesCid advises.
And it is that many times we start from work, instead of starting from those essential activities, that is, from all those things that we have to do because they are essential to have good health and well-being, and therefore, to be able to work better.
“Because even if we have overwhelming job success and a good income, if we dedicate all our time to work, probably because of the loss of balance that leisure and essential activities entail, because we are forgetting everything that is the human partit can end in some mental health disorder such as anxiety o depression“, argues Cid. For this reason – he insists – “we cannot do without these activities, it is important that they are in our central axis”.
Another concept that is now being worked on a lot in queries is that of “pause”, something that is also applied in the mindfulnessand that we can apply within our own work: “Although we are working, I have to give our brain pauses: about 5 minutes to go to the bathroom, to go get something to eat, to chat with a colleague, even to listen to a song. .. It’s about giving the brain a pause to perform again and to focus again on our task”, explains Cid.
Leisure does not have to be “productive”
Let’s imagine a scene. A friend asks us: what have you done this weekend? “Well, nothing productive, really. I’ve seen a series and I’ve been lying on the couch all weekend.” When really we have been doing something that maybe we needed: rest and watch a series that we liked.
And it is true that, as Cid explains, “at a societal level, we consider that everything we do, including leisure, has to be “productive.” We don’t really know why, but it seems that we always have to be creating or cultivating ourselves And that’s fine, but we also need that rest time and self-care. Watching a series that we like is enjoying.
For example, that weekend in which you say that “you haven’t done anything”, in reality “what you have done” is: make a mask on your face, take a relaxing bath in the bathtub, have rested on the sofa that you needed and you have talked on the phone with a family member or friend for a long time. Therefore, you have been aware of your self-care and you have also socialized talking with that person you loved.
It’s important to put attention on “We cannot always be creating“, maintains Cid. Well, we must not forget that “in reality, the brain is a muscle and if we are always, always producing, we are exhausting it. And if the brain does not have rest, we are causing exhaustion that can lead to stress or anxiety problems”, concludes the expert. And as we explain here: too much stress affects health.