Recovery from work or study refers to a process where your resources are restored to the level they were at preceding the intensive work or studying period. To recover, you need to have enough leisure time. You should also recognise what kinds of leisure-time activities support recovery and what kinds may add to your workload.

Mentally recovering from stress consists of four categories:

  • taking your mind off work/studying
  • relaxing
  • mastery of skills and learning new things in your leisure time
  • the ability to decide what, when, and how you do something.

The specific kind of action that helps one to recover depends on the individual and often on the situation. Getting together with friends can generally be thought of as furthering recovery, but after intensive group working, you may want some time to yourself. Sometimes surfing the net for a while may be relaxing, whereas at other times, it is just a way to avoid studying and can increase your stress.

 

Task: what relaxes you?

Take a moment to write down what you usually find relaxing. What kind of things do you usually immerse yourself in deep enough to forget about studying? If you find it hard to identify what you find relaxing, think about whether any of the following are nice and relaxing for you: physical exercise, being outdoors, listening to music, singing, watching films, reading, meeting friends, spending time with your family, taking care of a pet, handicrafts, cooking, going to the sauna, mediation, drawing or painting, playing games, or some other hobby.

When you have identified some things that relax you, think about their share in your everyday life. Would you like to spend more time on relaxation? How could you achieve that? Even small breaks promote recovery.

 

Task: What gives you more resources?

You can also further recover from stress by doing something in your leisure time that allows you to broaden your skills or learn something new. This can boost your self-confidence while giving you joyful and positive experiences. This means that even hobbies or daily chores that require effort can support your recovery rather than adding to stress.

Make a list of things where you can use your skills or learn something new. These can be hobbies, everyday chores such as cooking, helping others or voluntary work, visiting new places and travelling.

Would you like to increase the share of anything on your list in your daily life? Is there a new skill you would like to learn? How could you manage this in practice?

 
Task: are you using your leisure time in the way you would like?

While one’s possibilities to spend leisure time on hobbies and recovery is often dependent on the life situation, it is crucial that everyone can decide, at least to some extent, what they do in their leisure time, how they do it and when. Think whether you do something during your leisure time simply to meet other’s expectations or because you have always done so. Is there anything that adds to your stress? At times, a hobby or voluntary work may become stressful. At others, you may realise that you have too many commitments in your leisure time, which makes your leisure time too busy.

If you recognise factors adding to your stress in your leisure time, can you influence them? How can you increase your power to decide over what you do in your leisure time?


Last modified: Monday, 16 March 2020, 12:47 PM