Stop Saying “When I Finally,” Get Back to Leisure Time, and Pay Attention to the Life You Already Have
Hi Folks! Connor and Nick here from Healthy Living With Nick and Connor. Thanks again for being on our email list, it means a lot, and we are excited to share our weekly email with you. We hope you enjoy it! Here is what we hope you take away from this one:
Stop saving things for the future, do them now!
It is time to take back some leisure time, do things you enjoy, and feel good about it.
You don’t have to drastically change your life to start enjoying it, just start enjoying the life you already have by paying attention to it and appreciating what you have.
Starter Mindset Tip: Stop Saving Things for the Future, Do Them NOW
A common problem nowadays is pushing the things we want to do into the future after we have accomplished some magical thing. We find ourselves starting sentences with “when I finally” in order to justify not doing what we want to be doing. “When I finally get a promotion, or into a relationship, or finish my to-do list, then I will do that thing I have always wanted to do, or lead the life I want to live.” And then what happens? We find something else to prioritize, we push it back again, and we never get to it. We just have to start doing it now. This could be a project that you have been wanting to do, a trip you have been wanting to go on, a garden you have wanted to plant, a nutrition change that you have been wanting to do, or even a whole way of life you would like to adopt. The more you focus on this future plan, the less you think about what you want and could be doing right now. We all have periods in our lives where we have to buckle down and work hard, or busy times when raising children, or grinding it out after buying a property, and that is okay. It is good to feel what it is like to sink your teeth into something because it makes you appreciate the quieter times. The key thing here is you have to create a plan for when this busy period is over, or else you can get caught in the grind, and you never end up living the life you want to live and doing the things you want to do. Think of your life as having cycles. Stop waiting, start doing things you want to do now. (Inspired by: Burkeman, p. 125)
Health Recipe: Get Back to Leisure Time
Timing: Start with small bouts of leisure, build from there
Level of Difficulty: Easy - hard depending on your schedule
Serving Size: Every day would be great, start with a few days per week, then build
Spiciness: Leisure will create calmness and less stress. Nothing but mild baby
INGREDIENTS
Just yourself and whatever leisure activity you enjoy
REASONING AND BENEFITS
Do you allow yourself to have any leisure time throughout your day, or is leisure time a foreign concept that was forgotten many moons ago? If you have forgotten what leisure is, it is when you slow your life down, do something that you enjoy, and forget about work and your to-do list. A lot of us have become caught up in the efficiency and productivity mindset trap and feel like we always have to be doing something productive. This may just be making you less productive. When you never give your mind a break, your brain cannot enter into the default mode network. This state of mind is when your brain sorts through all of the memories and emotions that have entered it recently and tries to put them into context with what you already know. This is very important for learning, creativity, insight, empathy, self-reflection, for letting your mind wander in new directions, and for your overall well being. (Headlee, 127) It is hard to have a look at your own life to see if you are living the way you want to live when your brain is always working on a task or a problem. When you do decide to shut your mind off and take a break, DO NOT think about work. People who are more detached from their work while at home are emotionally happier, sleep better, and are just happier with their lives in general. (Headlee, 212) So if you can take work off your mind while you bask in some leisure time, you will be happier, you will have more energy, and you know what, bonus time, you may just solve that work problem you have been struggling with. When you actually give your mind time to chill out and catalogue everything that enters it, your brain will compare the new information and memories to past memories, and this is when you will actually solve problems!
INSTRUCTIONS
Sit down and get real with yourself for a couple minutes. Ask yourself if you have been fitting in leisure time. Have you been spending any time with your mind shut off? Or are you constantly thinking about work and your to-do list on your fridge?
If you do fit in leisure time, awesome, good for you, keep it the heck up. Can you fit more in, or are you happy with the amount? Also, are you truly shutting your mind off during your leisure time? Make sure that you are getting the full benefits.
If you do not fit leisure time in, that’s okay, you are not alone, and it is not your fault. We have been convinced that leisure time is a waste of time because you should be doing something “productive.”
Start by scheduling it in. Ideally every day, but start with small chunks for now. Schedule it once a week if that is all you think you can do, but don’t miss it, and shut your mind off if you can. Spend an hour walking without your phone, or play that game or sport you used to love, or pick up a pen and write or draw, whatever floats your boat.
We all get busy and miss out on the leisure that we want. That is okay. But, make sure that when you get out of that busy spot, you prioritize leisure again. It is easy to get stuck in the busy mindset and make yourself think you don’t have time for leisure again. Check in with yourself, make sure you are fitting in leisure time, shutting your mind off, and doing things you enjoy.
PRO TIP: Leisure time is not a waste of time. You are not being lazy. You are allowed to do things that aren’t based on work or your to-do list. The tasks will still be there after you enjoy some leisure time.
* It is easy to fall into the trap of working longer hours in order to make more money, but once you have enough money to meet your fundamental needs, it is usually leisure time that will increase your happiness, not more money. (Headlee, 180)
** If all you have is 5 minutes in your day to unplug and do nothing, just sit or lay down, focus on slow inhales and slow exhales and try to do nothing. Don’t move, don’t think about anything, just sit, breathe, and unwind for 5 minutes, and then carry on with your day.
*** Being productive is great, but keep it out of your leisure. Allow your leisure to happen at its own pace. Enjoy it without any constraints other than maybe time as you fit it in between your life.
Dessert Quote:
“Pay more attention to every moment, however mundane: to find novelty not by doing radically different things but by plunging more deeply into the life you already have. Experience life with twice the usual intensity, and “your experience of life would be twice as full as it currently is”—and any period of life would be remembered as having lasted twice as long.” — Burkeman, p. 242
Now we want to hear from YOU! Please let us know what you think of today’s newsletter, and send us an example of how you applied the health recipe to your life! We would love to share how you introduced this week’s recipe into your life’s unique menu. Thanks and have a great Sunday!
Sources:
Learn more about harnessing the power of leisure and doing nothing:
Headlee, C. (2020). Do nothing: Break Away from Overworking, Overdoing and Underliving. Hachette UK.
Learn more about making every moment of your life better:
Burkeman, O. (2021). Four thousand weeks: The smash-hit Sunday Times bestseller that will change your life. Random House.
