SCH 121 Five Hacks to Improve Your Academic Self-Care Quotient with a Hobby

Want to improve your academic self-care quotient? Try a hobby! Leisure-time activities improve our academics.

I gripped the handlebars and stood up, shifting my weight back to prevent the back tire from spinning out on the loose rocks as I reached the top of the hill.

“You cleaned it!” one of the students called out, “I had to push my bike up the last part.”

I smiled, too out of breath to respond. Glancing down at my bicycle, I noticed something for the first time. The manufacturer had imprinted an infinite sentence on the part of the bike where the headset meets the stem: All work and no play is no fun at (if read in a circle, the sentence reads, ‘All work and no play is not fun at all.’).

Not everyone considers huffing up narrow single-track and across narrow cliffs with a group of students in tow ‘fun.’ But we do. My husband and I have taken countless students mountain biking in the past ten years. It never seems like work. Instead, we consider it play. A hobby we love and love to share with students.

I used to joke about how exercise and having fun would make the kids smarter. Now research backs up my claims. Physical activities and hobbies both improve our ability to learn. This makes mountain biking, hiking, kayaking, canoeing, running, skiing, and other active leisure-time activities extra potent at improving your academic self-care.

If you prefer less active hobbies, never fear. ANY hobby will help improve your academic self-care. Listen to today’s podcast to find out why.

I’d love to hear from you! Have you discovered a hobby that makes you feel smarter or clears your head for deep work better than others?

You can check out the article in The Arts in Psychotherapy here.

For more on the importance of art education, click here.

You can find J. S. Catterall’s study here.

Want to learn more about project-based leisure-time activities? Click here.

Check out the connection between art activities and critical thinking here.

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