7 benefits to being alone: How sometimes being alone leads to a better health?

We’ve all felt lonely from time to time. It could be moving to a new city, a recent change in your relationship status, or just life itself. It can be tough but did you know you can be your own best friend? We’re going to tell you all the ways you can enjoy your alone time, why you should allow yourself to be alone more often and how it can massively benefit you. So, get cosy, and let’s kick it off. Your body might be trying to tell you something: Do you feel frustrated more easily? Are you snapping at someone you love for no apparent reason? Are you currently more possessed by daily tasks than usual? We’re not trying to canvas on you, but these are all possible signs your body might be giving, signalling the need for some serious “you” time. Life is really demanding these days and there are moments when you just want to relax. Your body knows when it’s getting close to the burn out stage, and will likely give you some kind of warning in the form of a mood change, or even a physical stress reaction. Knowing how to identify these signals is the first step to taking care of yourself and really benefiting from this alone time we're talking about. We’re often categorized by how social we are, and this can put pressure on anyone to give their alone time away.

    Loneliness

 

Socializing can host a variety of benefits like Boosted self-esteem from knowing your friends want to spend their time with you. And the ability to talk to others and get some feedback or helpful perspectives on different situations you may be facing. This can also be related to the terms introvert and extrovert. If you’re an introvert, then you’re probably used to the idea of alone time, as introverts need more time away from social events to feel content. Whereas extroverted people seek out social interactions much more often and get a sense of feeling recharged after these interactions. Everyone is different but people usually require a mix of both social and solitary moments to be at their best. We all want to be as productive as possible, but if you’re keeping yourself busy all the time, then you’ll probably benefit the most from some much-deserved alone time. Let’s get to the good stuff here’s what;

 

Benefits

1.  Reboots your brain even if you’re getting the recommended amount of sleep every night, you can still be mentally exhausted. If you have to be entertaining others all the time doesn’t allow your brain a chance to rest. Studies show that cutting out some alone time can increase feelings of pleasure moment, allow you to handle the stress, and become more satisfied with life in general. Not to mention that people who make more time for themselves approaches to be less prostrate to depression.
2. Increases Empathy Friends are very important, and it’s important to spend time with them to keep those relationships close. We are creatures of habit and we usually develop a schedule in our daily lives, this routine can include the friends you chilled out with. If you hang out with the same people all the time you might start to develop a different attitude towards people you are not friends with. Otherwise known as a “clique” this mentality isn't always a good one to have. Spending some time alone will allow you to take a step back and look at the bigger picture when it comes to how people interact and their motivations behind their actions. You might develop more compassion for others, and that’s definitely a good thing.
3. It can make you more productive we often think that spending time alone will sabotage our efforts to be productive when in reality it’s the opposite. No one wants to be in a cubicle anymore, but research points out that being around people constantly actually kills productivity. Your open-concept office looks really cool, but it does nothing to help employees keep up their productivity. When you’re around other people, especially people you like, it’s easy to get sidetracked and lose your concentration. There are a million and one ways to become distracted from a task, but being alone will eliminate at least one of them, which is other people. For more ways to stay focused and smash your to-do, “9 Ways to Help You Stay Focused and Strengthen Your Mind”. And if you’re wondering if you’re someone who likes to be alone, “8 Special Personality Traits of People who like to be alone”. Now back on why being alone is good for you!
4. It can get those Creative Juices flowing some people believe that being bored is directly linked to being creative. We don’t know how true that actually is, but we can see how people could put those two things together. When you are given the opportunity to be bored when you give yourself a chance to let your mind wander, and free yourself of responsibility for a moment, you will look for a way to entertain yourself. This is where creativity shines. If you give your brain a chance to think about something other than everything on your to-do list, you’ll be surprised at how creative you can be. Being creative takes practice, and it’s not something that will happen right away, but if you give yourself time to allow creativity to blossom, you might come up with a great clue and you’ll feel inspired in other fields of your life.
5. Gives you time to plan dome people love making goals, some of us hate it. But making goals and planning things for the future can be exciting, and fun. That is if you have time for it. You can organize your thoughts and really get down to planning out what you want your week, month or year to look like. Is there something you want to accomplish this month? You can plan ways to get closer to that goal each week and make bite-sized accomplishments that’ll help you feel like you’re on the right track. Being organized feels good, and helps you stay on top of things. Who doesn’t want that in today’s hectic world?
6. Allows you time to get to know yourself sure, you might recognize the person staring back in the mirror, but do you really know them? We’re constantly evolving, sometimes goals and plans can change. If you allow yourself time to explore new hobbies or passions alone, you can really get a handle on what you like, and what you don't like. You’ll be more in touch with what your mind and body need on a regular basis, and you probably learn to listen to your body more often if you give yourself the time. When you’re alone you can make choices that work for you, without being influenced by anything or anyone. This means you’ll get to know what you like, and will be able to identify that much easier in the future. The more you choose the things that are right for you, the more insight you’ll have about who you really are.
7. It’ll make your relationships better alone time or self-care as it’s sometimes called, will probably make you a happier person in the long run. According to everything we just listed by allowing yourself some alone time you’ll: Be more satisfied with your life become more empathetic, Be more productive both with your work and creative life, Be more organized and goal-oriented make better choices for yourself, improving happiness. So, if you’re a happier person, that means you'll be more fun to be around and when you do hang out with people, you’ll want to be there. You won’t feel drained, and since you've made yourself a priority, you’ll be hanging out with friends and family when you want to. You’ll also come to appreciate what others bring to your life after you’ve been alone for a bit. How to enjoy being alone: We’re not saying you should be alone all the time, everything in moderation, even alone time. But you might be wondering how being alone can be fun, or entertaining.

Well, we’re here to tell you it can be! Here are a few ways you can enjoy being alone:

 

Unplug Comparing yourself to others will not make you feel good about yourself. Things like social media can cause you to compare everyday life to someone else’s highlight reel. It’s not a fair comparison, and you're probably going to feel like the grass is greener. Limiting or scheduling a break from things like Instagram will do your brain a world of good. You won’t have the chance to feel left out, and you can focus on you. If you really want to be alone, you can schedule a time to be away from email and phone calls, too.

 

Get Comfortable with doing nothing does the thought of doing nothing make you panic? Do you feel out of place or guilty? That’s a normal reaction and it’s likely because you have not allowed yourself the opportunity to do anything and you view it as a negative thing. We’re here to tell you that doesn’t have to be the case! We all have responsibilities we need to take care of, but your wellbeing should be one of those responsibilities. The more you let yourself take advantage of a little free time, the more creative and comfortable you’ll be when you’re doing “nothing”.

 

Do something for You, you don’t have to sit in a room and do nothing to be alone. You can take this time and use it to get to know yourself better. Sort of like taking yourself on a date. Is there a movie you’ve been dying to see but can’t link up schedules with a friend? Go alone! If you have fitness goals, you can use this alone time to do some yoga, stretch or go for a nice long walk in nature. It’s amazing how physical activity and being outside can clear your head and help you work through difficult decisions or stressful moments. Do you like being alone? Are you going to plan more alone time for yourself? Let us know in the comments below, we'd love to hear from you.