The other day at work, a customer (and a good friend) of mine got into a discussion about relaxing, and how a person shouldn’t over-do it when it comes to work. The topic came up because my friend’s wife was visiting her brother, and his kids were out travelling, so he had plenty of time to rest and relax. This got me thinking about what it means to relax in general, and how important relaxing and taking time for oneself is just as important as putting in work and effort into just about any activity. It also got me thinking about having time to oneself, and how it isn’t completely anti-social to just want alone time.

On the topic of rest and relaxing, for one who procrastinates fairly often, it can be a fine line between relaxing and taking time for oneself, and neglecting responsibility. There are plenty of people who thinks that any given moment you aren’t doing something productive that you’re being lazy, and that you need to find something worthwhile to do. Sometimes the criticism comes from a parent or significant other who thinks that their child/spouse should be more active, but more often than not, the criticism comes directly from the person “being lazy” who feels like they aren’t doing enough. I completely and wholeheartedly disagree with that philosophy, because there are students and full time workers alike that spend plenty of time a week working hard, not to mention any recreational activities or volunteer work that said individual might do. These people shouldn’t be given any grief for a day’s rest, because it’s important to take a deep breath, and not worry about any obligations or problems that one might have.

Recreational time is important to an individual’s mental well-being. There’s a reason why “all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy,” because working too hard at something (or many things at once) will inevitably cause a person to wear down, and the things that someone once liked will become unappealing to do. I’ve personally been in said situation on more then a few occasions, whether it’s over a project or presentation I need to get right, or an exam that I need to get an A on, I used to get all worked up over said assignments that I never took any time for myself. In recent years however, I found that doing work in moderation, without overdoing it on either relaxing or working is the key to keeping a healthy mind. What I mean by that is that while one should work hard and take their work seriously, they should also find the time to relax and take a break every now and again. I know it seems simple, and I’m sure it’s been said thousands of times, but how many of us actually heed that advice. I’m the one writing about it, and given the right circumstances, even I can lose my head in my work from time to time.

Now on the topic of alone time, I can think of no better personal example then a few weeks ago when I first moved into school. All of my friends were out and about, and I had the dorms all to myself. Now while some people might be bummed out that their friends aren’t in the room, or relish the idea and invite people over, I personally made the best of it and enjoyed the silence. Being alone meant that I didn’t have to worry about social responsibilities for awhile, and just put my mind at complete ease. Would I have rather been playing games and spending time with my roommates? Absolutely! But I also took the time to appreciate the quiet that I did have, because I wouldn’t always have it. It’s never a bad thing to look forward to having alone time, even when all my buds are in the room, each of us like to have our alone time to decompress and think evaluate what’s going on in our lives at that moment. But when we want to hang out, we have an absolute blast.

I guess if this article had one message to share, it’s to not feel bad for wanting to shirk your responsibilities for a while, work or social related. Each and every one of us needs a break every now again, and regardless of how “hard working” we’re told to be, we should be allowed to just relax.