How Spending Some Time Alone is Good For Your Health
Far too often these days, many people end up feeling overwhelmed, and thanks to social media it sometimes feels like there's no way to escape. However, it's extremely important to switch your phone off and get away from every other human being every so often. Why? Keep reading and find out.
1. It Fights Stress
Being alone and feeling bored deactivates
the areas in your brain that promote heightened awareness, which can
help lower stress levels. Boredom helps calm your brain down and can
help you regulate your emotions a lot better.
2. It Helps You Unwind
Spending time alone is a brilliant way to
recharge your mind and body. A massive survey with 18,000 participants
from 134 different countries found that 'spending time alone' was the
way most people felt the most relaxed. 'Reading' came in 2nd place and
'being in nature' came 3rd.
3. It wards off depression
It may seem counterintuitive, but spending
time alone has actually been found to tackle depression. Studies from
the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign revealed that the risk of
depression is significantly decreased for those who enjoy spending time
alone. Additionally, they also found that people who enjoy being alone
are far less likely to suffer from depression at any point in their
lives.
4. It Boosts Your Mental Strength
Plenty of people get nervous or antsy when they have to be alone for a
long time. However, we really should start to do it more often, since
studies have shown that forcing yourself to sit through extended periods
of solitude will fortify your mental strength.
5. It Makes You More Compassionate
Harvard University found that being
isolated can help you build a stronger and more empathetic character.
According to Harvard researchers, sessions in solitude help people gain a
better understanding of the struggles and experiences of others, which
can help them become more sincerely compassionate throughout their
lives.
6. It Makes You More Creative
If you want to become more creative, then there's no better way than
spending time alone. The more bored you get, the more creative you'll
become, since the human mind will start coming up with loads of
different ways of keeping yourself entertained, and since you're alone
there will be nobody around to distract you.
7. It Creates Self-Reliance
If you always rely on others for
assistance, opinions, and advice, then you might end up becoming
partially-dependent on others, which won't allow you to become
self-reliant. If you want to feel a sense of independence, you'll need
to start making decisions on your own, which is something that spending
time alone forces you to do.
8. It Improves Concentration
Interruptions and distractions are an inevitable part of day-to-day
life, from the daily barrage of emails to friends and family messaging
you to see when you're free to meet up. Setting aside some proper alone
time will allow you to cut out most of these disturbances, letting you
get on with the task at hand. You can also improve your memory and
concentration by means of these pressure points.
9. It Improves Your Memory
Spending time alone has also been found to
boost your memory. In fact, research from Harvard has shown that people
remember the key details of tasks they completed by themselves in far
more detail than those they completed with the help of others.
10. It Strengthens Your Relationships
Being alone has been shown to help you gain a better understanding of
who you are. Such self-knowledge is absolutely essential if you want any
of your long-term relationships to work out. After all, if you don't
even understand yourself, how can you expect to truly understand the
needs and desires of another person?