In your quest for a balanced life, have you neglected your hobbies? As children, we are experts at finding hobbies. We play sports, take dance and music lessons, collect action figures and spend our days learning everything from languages to wood shop. But somewhere on the path to adulthood, we s...

In 2010, a team of researchers from universities in Kansas, Pittsburgh and Texas published the results of four large studies with a total of 1,399 participants, including men and women with various health problems, such as upper respiratory illness, arthritis and breast cancer. The researchers de...

Lower stress. A large body of research shows that leisure activities can help reduce stress. The Pittsburgh study showed that people who took part in a lot of enjoyable activities dealt better wit...

More friends. Notably, spending more time on hobbies and leisure pursuits was associated with having a larger and more diverse social network. And we know that a strong social network

And there’s one additional benefit to having a hobby that may surprise you.

Improved work performance. A study at San Francisco State University found that employees who...

Need some convincing that you need a hobby? 

Let’s start with some science. A large body of research suggests that how you spend leisure time matters to your health, and that your hobbies are good for you in many ways.

Better physical health. People who scored higher on the enjoyable activities test had lower body mass index, smaller waists, lower blood pressure, lower stress hormones and better overall physical function. While it’s possible that people who start out healthy are more likely to ...