5 Benefits of Healthy Activities on My Days Off Work

I recently learned how much healthy activities matter. Last week, I had two consecutive days off from work, which does not happen often. Usually, I spend those days oversleeping. But last week, I tried to stay busy with healthy activities. Here are five ways that I benefited from staying active on my days off work.

5 Benefits from Healthy Activities on My Days Off Work

1. The healthy activity of waking up early allowed me to enjoy more free time. During most of my days off, I wake up in the afternoon. Even then, I am too tired to stay awake. After those days, I feel depressed for not doing anything I plan on doing. 
   Last week, waking up at 7 a.m. on my days off allowed me to complete some chores I had neglected for a while. Going for an early morning walk energized me. Also, I did not have to stress out about running out of time to do what I wanted to do. So, I enjoyed more of my time off from work.
2. Promoting my new eBook gave me hope that my content would benefit others. One of my goals includes spreading positivity to others through my writing. I also want to generate enough sales through my content to write full-time. During my days off, I worked on those goals by promoting my new eBook on social media. My promotion included a video with a poetry reading and information about my content. When I shared the video on my social media profiles, I included positive captions. Spending time on the video made me feel good about my writing journey.
3. The healthy activity of working out at the gym improved my mood. Like many people, I often make plans that do not happen. One of those plans is to work out every day. Most days, my excuses are that I'm too tired, work in itself is enough exercise, and writing is more important. Neglecting exercise became a habit that made me feel terrible about myself. I noticed weight gain and thought it would be impossible to change it. But after going to the gym for just one day, I remembered how good it felt to run on the elliptical. That euphoric feeling was something I had been missing for a while.
4. Healthy social activities made me feel more connected to others. Most of the time, I look forward to hanging out with my friends and joining writing groups. But lately, I have not had time to do those things often due to schedule conflicts. On my days off last week, I played bingo, dined out, and exercised with my friends. I also connected with other writers and found more motivation to improve my content. Even though I still struggled with writer's block, it was comforting to know that I wasn't alone. Other writers have overcome it, and I will, too.
5. The healthy activity of talking to my therapist helped me deal with frequent stressors. Therapy is always helpful and productive for my mental health. Originally, I was doing eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) with my therapist. But over the last few months, we have been doing cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) instead. Last week, my therapist helped me identify recent thought distortions. She then encouraged me to apply the exercise to my stressful work days. That way, I would be closer to changing my thoughts and actions.

At the end of my days off work, doing all of the aforementioned healthy activities made me feel like I did not waste my time. I also felt more prepared for hectic days.

What types of healthy activities do you do during your free time? How do you think they affect your mental health? Please share in the comments.