Why finding a hobby you love could save your career

Increased focus and function. Better sleep. Brighter mood. Quicker learning. Deeper creativity and a sharper memory.

These aren’t the effects of a wonder drug. They’re the natural results of a week spent picking olives with my family in Turkey.

It’s a commitment I never miss — where I trade in targets for tarps, and productivity for brining pans. I count vats of oil, instead of KPIs. I look at trees, instead of spreadsheets. I chase my children, instead of timelines.

At first glance, olive picking has nothing to do with my online form startup. But, studies show that taking time for a hobby may actually be the key to increased creativity, productivity, memory, focus, and mood.

But dopamine is just the beginning.

To truly understand the art of leisure, and how we lost it, we need to go back in time, to when work was a necessity: something we did to survive.

By the time long hours became the norm in Western society, the idea of “work” had switched from a necessity to something one could avoid through wealth. Free…

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