Wine & Work: The balanced diet of a work-a-holic

I believe a productive leisure life creates good energy which will assist in doing tasks you may not always enjoy.  When stressed, it is an easy choice to go home to sit out the couch or lie in bed. Drinking the night away often seems to be an easy way to forget about our worries.  I have learned you need to put effort in to use make leisure time productive time.  Leisure time for me includes hanging out with good friends, maintaining and starting new hobbies, good alone time, and making the most out of this wonderful city I live in.  Just like anything else, it is important for our leisure time to have a balance. 

Leisure deserves effort.  It will help with lifelong happiness and good mental health.  It shouldn’t be treated like a bad diet where you work hard to lose weight just to gain it all back again.  (I am a victim of this as well).  When good habits are in place we create the tools needed to have a productive, successful leisure life. 

Defining Leisure- Basically it’s doing things that are enjoyable.  If you enjoy work, you still need a balance.  As my dad always said-“everything is ok…in moderation. “

I am challenging you to make a list of ten things you would like to do but haven’t found the time to do it.  Below are mine:

1. Make a fancy cake (play with fondant)
2. Take an acrylic painting class
3. Go to a coffee shop with a big comfy chair and read a book/ people watch for hours
4. Go to driving range
5. Bike across Golden Gate Bridge and a ferry back to SF
6. Go to a concert this summer
7. Go to Old Pro and ride the mechanical Bull
8. Take bubble baths every few weeks
9. Explore more homemade healthy meals
10. Start a blog to talk about my leisure activities, hobbies, and personal growth

My goal for this blog is to focus on a productive leisure balance and to encourage others to do the same.  I’m not saying we should stop working hard on our careers, but we should take the little leisure time we have and make it productive. I will be posting stories on my personal leisure experiences and articles I come across that prove the importance of a work life balance.  Your experiences are encouraged!