Here’s Why Taking Time for Fun is Beneficial to Your Business
Running a business can be a fun and exciting process, but also brings a lot of hard work and stress.
In business, we have to learn to offset the challenge of business by taking time for fun either within the business environment or outside. Your sanity is dependent on you having a balance and your inner self feeling happy, and so you need to ensure that you are spending less time doing things that put a strain on your emotional well-being.
Taking some time for fun might involve spending time doing creative brainstorming and marketing with the team. It might involve going for a meal at lunchtime. It might involve going for a movie at the weekend with your family. Whatever is fun for you and those around you will give you energy and help you to be more productive for your business.
Here are some more reasons that you should bring more fun into your life.
Improving your physical health
Research has shown that it’s possible to reduce stress and anxiety simply by looking to have fun. Healthy workers tend to be more productive and those that have fun tend to have less time off sick. By creating more fun in the work environment for yourself and for your colleagues and employees, you will be able to improve the physical health of the environment and the people within it.
Better emotional mental health
There is an enormous amount of talk about anxiety and mental health in the world today. Taking time out to rest, rejuvenate and do the fun things in life can really help to redress the balance that long hours of hard work can get in the way of. Laughter and fun are crucial to good mental health so open up the channels that enable a positive and fun working environment.
It is not simply enough to take time off work though, investing in the right health insurance is an investment in good health, which will come in handy when you need it most.
Productivity is increased when people take breaks
Research tells us that people wo don’t take breaks from work, whether it be a weekend or during the day, often have symptoms of burnout. Well-being and productivity require that you switch off from time to time; sometimes just a few minutes of fun and laughter at work can take the stress out of the situation and help people re-engage with a more positive mindset. Encourage others to take breaks at work rather than eating their lunch at the desk.
Holidays can actually reduce your risk of heart attacks
De-stressing with loved ones on holiday can actually decrease heart attack risk by 30% among men and 50% amongst women. Book holidays and have fun and you will actually increase your likelihood of living longer. Your body and your enterprise will benefit if you take time for yourself rather than constantly sacrificing your health.
Reducing stress
Studies by the American Psychological Association found that holidays and fun at work can dramatically reduce stress and anxiety. Stress alleviation can last long after the fun event making it easier to deal with stress in the business and making people more able to adapt to new challenges.
Creativity comes through fun
Long hours of hard work can impact your cognitive capacity for creativity. The creative connections in the brain seem to go to sleep until you have rested or rejuvenated. Giving your brain the time it needs to recharge and regain perspective will help you be more creative in solutions you develop in your business.
Reducing ergonomic problems
The physical impact of working long hours without moving can be severe. By taking breaks regularly and perhaps doing some physical activity you can dramatically reduce the ergonomic problems associated with sitting still for long periods of time. This can increase productivity, decrease time off work, and generally make people feel better. People that feel better at work tend to work harder and make more money for the business.
So, to sum up, taking some time off for fun, exercise and to rejuvenate your body and mind can help to improve heart health, reduce stress anxiety and depression, improve focus and clarity of thought. Ultimately, it helps to increase the capacity to see the big picture in situations and therefore make better decisions.