All Work and No Play.

We go clueless if we have to talk about work and play in the same breath. The off-days are either spent resting or with friends and family, hanging out or in the comforts of one’s home. Playing or any amount of physical activities is often thought of as tiresome, fatigue-inducing and unachievable. In their mid-twenties, when people start earning and going to office, a trend of discontinuing and negating all physical exercise from their routine starts cultivating, albeit rather compulsively.

Experts have said that the secret to great work is great play, and that the latter boosts creativity. It’s an important part of anyone’s life to nurture happiness and the lack of it often results in depression and anxiety. There comes a time in everybody’s life when they realise the importance of balancing their work and their play. No matter what you have taken into, going out, breathing fresh air and spending an hour at play is extremely important. Let’s see how making time for both work and play in the lives of today’s generation too busy can be helpful:

The Three R’s: Rest, Recreation and Relaxation – these three words alone can shape up your leisure life. When prioritising your tasks, allot time to these three activities and think of how you’d be working towards them. The three R’s will be responsible in restoring positivity, getting balance and helping refresh your lives.

Connect, Share, Learn: When in office, start a weekend play session at a place convenient to everyone and encourage everyone to join in. Choose a game, follow up, get together and play. The people who you are spending maximum hours of the day with are the best people you can share joy, happiness and fun with.

Keeps Emotions in Check: One of the better advantages of playing is that it puts you in a challenging situation and leaves you wondering, often thinking on your feet, about how to get out of it. People learn how to handle emotions like fear, anger, resentment, negativity. You might not realise the importance of that while you are playing, but it will certainly reflect at the time of decision-making during emotion-provoking situations. It will come naturally to you. So, make it a daily practice and consider it as important as your work.

Many A Option: It is not just physical activity or exercise that constitute “play”. It is much more. It can be dancing, aerobics, gymnastics, playing any sport, running, cycling, playing indoors at work, gym-work-out, etc. Anything that can improve your social skills, make you happy, teach you perseverance, foster creativity and learning, teach you the joy of watching others play, etc. So, find one such activity and start playing today.

Now that you have gone through the significance of a balanced life, let us know what you think about it in the comments section.

Have Purpose, Will Live

Purpose is an important, meaningful word. The journey that we undertake, as humans with intellect and emotion, from the moment our lives begin until it starts to fade away, has a very meaningful purpose: the life itself. Although the degree of purpose varies from person to person, the fact remains that all of us focus on maximising our time and opportunities to achieve that purpose. Many of us do lose out on our purpose once we approach our twenties, we should not let life shut its doors on us. Today, we talk about how to bring back purpose into our lives in five meaningful ways.

First, ask “Why” as often as you take up a new task, activity or an agenda. With every new happening in your life, attach a “Why” and answer yourself. For example: If you are writing a blog, ask yourself why you are writing one. The “What’s” and “How’s” would come later on.

Second, do some homework and have an Agenda before starting off your day. It is said that take life as it comes, but it is often misinterpreted as, “Just be alright with whatever life throws at you.” Don’t be lackadaisical and always prepare yourself for what’s coming next. Plan your work, your days and nights out, your dates with loved ones, your holidays as early as a year in advance. A good way to do that is to prepare a calendar based on special dates and holidays on the first day of every year.

Third, prepare a Bucket List. One of the most important purposes of life is to have the yearning to see the unseen, to experience the newness, to hear the unheard and to have the curiosity to know the mystery behind all life. The mundane, everyday tasks will get taken care of by somebody. Don’t waste your time in the little chores, delegate and outsource your work. Think big, dream big.

Fourth, everything that you enjoy doing, Hobbies like reading, biking, painting, singing, mountaineering, food, gadgets, should be decided on carefully and meticulously, with a discerning eye. Make them interesting by not following the ordinary. Don’t have anyone else decide on these things on your behalf.

NOW! is the most powerful word to have originated. The essence of this word lies in the Now! Don’t wait for things to happen to you. Just do them, grab every opportunity, don’t sleep on your aspirations and aims. Achieve them before it’s too late.

So, start living your life purposefully before it’s too late and tell us the ways in which you strive to make living everyday purposeful.