The ObservatoryEight minutes: what does your free time give you?
See what one thing you do for its own sake actually gives you, and what could make it a little better
How it works
- Choose one thingWrite
- What it gives youChoose
- What would give moreChoose
- A small adjustmentWrite
Choose something you do, or would like to do, when no one is making demands. It can be big or ridiculously small. That it is enjoyable is reason enough.
Exercise in 4 steps, about 8 minutes. Doing it is part of Premium, which you try free for 7 days with no card. With Premium your answers are saved so you can pick up where you left off and look back at what you wrote.
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Why does it work?
Newman, Tay and Diener summarized theories from 363 research articles on leisure and well-being and proposed five psychological mechanisms that may explain why leisure raises well-being: detaching and recovering, autonomy, developing (mastery), meaning, and connectedness. The model is a theoretical synthesis, and later studies have tested and adjusted it. Studies suggest that the five things matter, but it is not proven that this particular set is the right one or that all of them are needed for every activity. Source: Newman, Tay & Diener (2014), Leisure and subjective well-being: A model of psychological mechanisms as mediating factors, Journal of Happiness Studies 15(3), 555-578.
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