28 Jun How to start having more fun
Do you ever wonder if life could (or should) be more fun? In today’s fast-paced world – especially in Western nations – many of us find ourselves struggling to experience a consistent level of joy. The stress and demands of modern daily life can feel overwhelming, leaving little time or energy for enjoyable experiences. If you’re in the ‘sandwich’ generation – those caught between raising children and caring for ageing parents – you face compounding challenges to having fun. The seismic shifts in the way we work aren’t helping either, including the transition to so-called knowledge work, where you never really know when your work is finished. There’s also the rise of communication tools that make you accessible at any hour, every day.
This is concerning, especially given that mounting research demonstrates having fun is a vital component of wellbeing. Just as wearing a lack of sleep as a badge of honour needed radical reframing in the 1990s (because of its harmful effects), I believe that people’s attitudes to leisure and fun now need the same attention.
Fun has many benefits
In the simplest of terms, fun is any activity you find pleasurable and are drawn to. A more psychological definition invokes the concept of valence: the pleasantness or unpleasantness of an emotional stimulus. Fun is any activity on the positive side of valence (sometimes referred to in scientific literature as ‘hedonic tone’). The type of activity you’re engaged in? It doesn’t really matter. Of course, there are some activities that aren’t really pleasurable, yet trick you into thinking you are having fun, because they numb discomfort and relieve your negative valent state. This can range from something as simple as mindlessly scrolling social media, to detrimental forms of escapism such as alcohol and drug abuse. To reap fun’s benefits, you want your fun to be enriching and sustainable, whether it is found at your work, engaging with loved ones and friends, connecting with an interest or hobby, or simply participating in something that flexes your curiosity.
The list of psychological and physical benefits we derive from living a joyful life includes reduced stress, improved immune function and increased longevity. From Kathleen Dillon’s seminal research looking at how positive emotions enhance the immune system, to the respected work of Ed Diener, whose research built a case that joyful people live longer, fun’s positive benefits are well established.
If you need more persuading about the importance of fun, consider the hedonic flexibility principle. Thoroughly investigated in 2016 by a team of scientists at MIT, Harvard, Stanford, and elsewhere, this principle suggests that people who do not incorporate fun into their lives have a significant likelihood of experiencing burnout, leading to a negative cycle that often results in them seeking unhealthy forms of escapism to alleviate their discomfort. In contrast, those who intentionally make time for fun tend to begin their days with more energy and enthusiasm. They are actually more productive, innovative and willing to take on challenges than those who work long hours without allowing themselves any time for leisure. In short, if you can find a way to integrate more fun into your life, you will unlock your full potential, become more resilient, and you’ll be better equipped to tackle the challenges that life throws your way.
Take Finley, a dedicated and hardworking professional, and a father of two tenacious kids. Initially, Finley spent countless hours at the office, neglecting his personal life and never making time for things he enjoys. Time spent with his kids came from a sense of duty: from the frame ‘I have to do’ versus ‘I get to do’. Consequently, he became burnt out and found himself caught in a downward spiral where each day he had less energy than the previous one. At this point, he was just trying to get through his day, let alone have fun. In an attempt to cope, Finley tried to drown out his discomfort through unhealthy escapism, including tuning out life in the evenings by binge-watching Netflix and indulging in bourbon as a way to ‘unwind’…
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