Can we do without more work? Of course. Can we do without a little more leisure? Probably not.
Since the evolution of man, from a primates to homo sapiens, one of the overarching themes of human existence has been leisure. Our physical and psychological being thrives on leisure as it provides us with physical relaxation as well as peace of mind. It is a deviance from what we are accustomed to do(physical labour, work, mental stress) and is scientifically essential. The modern world had various subjective representations of leisure; company of friends and family, travel, luxury indulgence, physical relaxation, digital activity, etc.
However, COVID-19 has eradicated a large part of that. Restriction to our homes has removed a large part of what humans associate with leisure. For decades, we have been overtly dependant on leisure through physical interaction(parties and social events), however that has changed drastically. Leisure, currently is defined by physical relaxation, indoor activities. This is a key challenge, because our state of mental health and psychological well-being are defined by pre-COVID leisure activities. This year itself, the United Nations has conducted research to unearth that mental health has been drastically affected across the globe.
This has consequences for our workload management and overall factor productivity. Being less satisfied with ourselves will lead to less efficiency in our work. This has a direct impact on our ability to think critically and create innovative solutions to complex, raging issues in the long term. Furthermore, leisure i key in boosting individual self esteem and perpetual state of life balance. Almost directly, this influences one’s ability to be ambitious and undertake large amounts of stress. Lastly, leisure provides happiness to an individual. In a world that witnesses increasing mental health issues, it’s presence will improve overall individual choices that determine sound action.
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