Here we are at the end of April and this month we focused on all things hobbies. From how to cultivate them, what resources to use, and how to gamify your hobby for growth and consistency. And now maybe you’re wondering why we spent the whole month talking about hobbies.

Well, hobbies are an important part of our life! They can help us escape from the mundanities of everyday life, grow in skill sets, and increase our mental and physical health. Yet according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most men and women spend the majority of their leisure time outside of work watching TV.

Today I want to explore with you three reasons why hobbies should be a part of your life.

Clarity

As a project manager, I’m constantly balancing many different decisions. And outside of work, those decision-making moments don’t stop when it comes to evaluating my next steps in life and relationships. All of this can feel extremely overwhelming and cause confusion that clouds my judgement and decision-making ability. I’ve found that focusing on a specific hobby, whether it is writing, building something, or reading can bring fresh clarity and perspective to my already overwhelmed mind.

Hobbies can provide a focused time and space for your mind, free of the paralyses that can come from trying to make a lot of decisions. This clarity of mind can then help us make assessments without obstacles so we can make well informed decisions later on.

Growth

A recent article on Harvard Business Review explained the importance of  hobbies in helping to grow your work skills by improving your creativity, perspective, and confidence.

Hobbies provide a fun and personal way to grow a variety of skills. By engaging our brain and physical abilities in exploring and developing activities that interest us, we improve on cognitive skills like problem solving, motor skills, and logic and reasoning.

Hobbies not only help us grow mentally, but they also help us grow socially. Through shared interests we make deeper connections with others. Sharing our passion for crochet or cooking can help us build relationships with others and expand our social circles. Because we are already passionate about our hobby, this immediately boosts our confidence making it that much easier to socialize with others and seek out people that share the same interest as us.

Health

It is pretty obvious that hobbies like CrossFit, swimming, and running can improve our physical health. But they are so much more than that—hobbies can also help us improve our mental health and relieve stress. Much like the clarity that we talked about earlier, focusing our time and mind on something we enjoy helps us relieve stress from unavoidable circumstances.

We already know physical activities is one way of relieving stress, but non-group activities like reading, meditating, or journaling are also great stress relievers.

Creating space away from the things that are causing us anxiety, while practicing an activity that we enjoy brings fresh and renewed perspective.

These are just three simple ways that hobbies can affect and improve our lives. We believe wholeheartedly that cultivating a hobby can bring positive and long-lasting benefits to your life—that’s why we focused a whole month talking about it So, go on Hatch gal discover what you are passionate about and incorporate into your everyday life!