Do you ever feel like it’s all too much? Every Thursday, I share one action, habit, or project you may want to undertake in order to improve your health, happiness, and sense of well-being.

PROJECT OF THE WEEK

Why Making Time for Fun Matters

I understand that this is a hard one. I struggle with this too.

We all live busy lives and there are so many important things on our to-do list that we should prioritize over having run, right?

Wrong! It turns out that a key element to living a full, happy, productive life is making time for fun.

The good news is that I do think quality matters more than quantity.

So why is fun so important?

I am a huge Brene Brown fan. Her work has had a profound impact on my life and the lives of many people that I highly respect.

Brene - can I call her Brene? - talks about the 10 Guideposts for Wholehearted Living.

Brene’s 10 Guideposts for Wholehearted Living are:

Cultivating Authenticity: Letting Go of What People Think
Cultivating Self-Compassion: Letting Go of Perfectionism
Cultivating a Resilient Spirit: Letting Go of Numbing and Powerlessness
Cultivating Gratitude and Joy: Letting Go of Scarcity and Fear of the Dark
Cultivating Intuition and Trusting Faith: Letting Go of the Need for Certainty
Cultivating Creativity: Letting Go of Comparison
Cultivating Play and Rest: Letting Go of Exhaustion as a Status Symbol and Productivity as Self-Worth
Cultivating Calm and Stillness: Letting Go of Anxiety as a Lifestyle
Cultivating Meaningful Work: Letting Go of Self-Doubt and "Supposed To"
Cultivating Laughter, Song, and Dance: Letting Go of Being Cool and "Always in Control"

Both the Cultivating Play and Rest and Cultivating Laughter, Song and Dance speak about the importance of "fun" in your life.

Balance is key and fun is a core part of the equation.

The Benefits of Making Time for Fun

Lessens Stress
Improves Sleep
Reduces Pain
Increases Energy
Provide Social Connection
Increase your ability to learn

Getting Started

The best advice I have heard is to think about what you enjoyed doing when you were ten years old and start there.

If you are naturally creative, you can probably list out a number of activities that you have fun doing. You probably already have the supplies needed to do many of them.

However, if you are someone who does not view yourself as creative or athletic, this can be challenging.

Below are some ideas:

Painting
Making pottery
Designing clothes
Doing improv
Trying a new group fitness class or running group
Acting
Singing
Joining a sports team or a book club
Working with animals, whether your own or at a local shelter
Fixing up a car
Building a new piece of furniture or restoring an older piece
Exploring new museums (or re-visiting an old favorite!)
Reviewing local restaurants
Camping

If you haven't done this activity in decades, I would suggest starting by taking a class. It will help minimize the anxiety that always accompanies starting something new.

Calendar your fun time.

I would recommend planning ahead. In part, as we all know, if it's not on the calendar, it often doesn't happen. But more importantly, by planning ahead, you will get both the benefit of the fun activity and the benefit of looking forward to the fun activity.

Start! And keep trying.

This is often the hardest step for most people. Just pick an activity and try. If you enjoy it, keep doing it. If you find that it’s not for you, pick something else and try again. Maybe you’re not a team sports person, but you really enjoy a book club. There’s nothing wrong with that. The point is to find something you enjoy.

Happy Spaces’ Tips & Tricks

I do lot's of fun things with my kids. Does that count?

It depends. If the activity that you do with your kids bring you joy, then absolutely. However, there are lots of 'fun' activities that we do with our kids that don't bring us joy.

For example, I don't particularly like playing games. So while I love having family game night because of the quality family time we spend together, that would not count as "fun" for me. On the other hand, I do love water parks; therefore, spending a day with the family at Water Safari definitely counts as fun for me.

How much and how often do I need to have fun to feel the benefits?

I don't think there is a magic number. This is something you are going to have to experiment with.

I would try to focus on:

Making fun a regular part of your week.
- Have at least one fun activity scheduled per week.
- Make sure you have some outside accountability, such as signing up for a class, joining a team or group, or doing the fun activity with a friend.
It's not all or nothing.
- Varying the length of time you set aside for fun is a great idea.
- Maybe you sign up for a painting class once a week that is an hour long, but you decide you are also going to paint for 10 minutes on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, after you put the kids to bed.
Think big picture
- If both you and your friend love trying new restaurants, this is a great way to incorporate both fun and connection in your life.
- If you and your son both love museums, you can set aside time each week to visit a new museum or exhibit.
- If you and your daughter both love basketball, you can set aside 20 minutes each morning or evening to play together.

Additional Resources

I highly recommend all of Brene Brown's books. My favorite piece of her work, which is available on Audible, is "The Power of Vulnerability". I have listened to this numerous times, and every time I do, I have a new take away that positively impacts my life.

buy the book

A Note from Happy Spaces

The goal is to add value to your life. If you think this project will add value:

Estimate how long you think it will take. I would recommend doubling the time you estimate.
Look at your calendar over the next week and pick a date and time to get started.
Make an appointment on your calendar for the estimated time.
If you estimate that completing this project will take longer than one hour, I recommend doing it over multiple days. This will support you in getting started!
Prior to starting this project, take a few minutes to make a step-by-step list of EVERY action you need to take to complete this project.
It's not all or nothing. You can choose to implement only the parts of this project that add value to your life.
An Accountability Partner can be a great support in following through on your goals and commitments.

We understand how challenging it can be to implement new habits and systems. For additional support please go to HappySpacesBySarah.com.

Creating a life you don't need a vacation from! ®

Sincerely,

Sarah Weingarten

Meet Sarah

Growing up as the oldest of nine siblings in Upstate New York, I learned to use organization to create sanity among the chaos. Today, I work together with individuals, families, and small businesses to create habits, systems, and spaces that support their needs, goals, and dreams. Clients often refer to our work together as "life-changing" and "better than decades of therapy". What I love most about my work is the lasting impact it has on real people's lives. Nothing makes me happier than hearing the many success stories of clients I have worked with.

Why Making Time for Fun Matters