Do you Need a Hobby?

Pastel Journal points to a New York Times article linking hobbies to improved job performance.

According to the article, doing something you love stimulates creativity and refreshes a tired mind. But there are also other benefits:

Hobbies also enhance self-esteem and self-confidence. Feeling that you are solely defined by your job — even if it is going well — can raise your chances of experiencing anxiety, depression and burnout, because you don’t have a perception of yourself outside of work, said Michelle P. Maidenberg, a psychotherapist and business coach in New York, and clinical director of Westchester Group Works, a center for group therapy.

“When people rely only on their role at work to foster self-esteem, that alone cannot typically fulfill their needs,” she said. If you are unhappy with your work performance, you are more inclined to define yourself as inadequate, but if your identity is varied — businesswoman, mother, wife, painter, cook — you can reflect on your success in those other things, she said.

As our work days become increasingly stressful and demanding, and technology ensures that our bosses can reach us at all hours of the day and night, I think hobbies - particularly those that are creative in some way - are more important than ever.

Read the whole article here.