Hobbies to boost your career

How can you improve your career chances? Well jobs24.com is a great place to start – with openings in many different types of industries.

But how else can you take the next step up the ladder? By taking up a hobby of course.

It turns out that what you do outside the workplace makes a big impact on your professional life.

“It gives you a sense of mastery. You’re developing new skills, new thought processes and really challenging yourself to learn something new and develop your skill set,” says Dr Kevin Eschleman, an assistant psychology professor at San Francisco State University who led a study on the correlation between hobbies and job performance.

In his study Dr Eschleman found hobbies provide a variety of benefits that extend into the workplace, but surprisingly he also discovered the less relevant the activity is to the person’s profession, the greater the impact on workplace performance.

“Whatever the activity is you’re doing in your free time, it becomes incredibly more valuable if it’s different from what you’ve been doing most recently in your work environment,” he notes.

“People need to be mindful and aware of what resources they’re using in the work environment in order to recognise which resources they need to protect and refuel in their free time.”

So what sort of pastimes should you pursue in order to replenish your mojo? Here are a few to consider.

Diving

Deep beneath the waves there are so many incredible sights to enjoy that all thoughts of work are quickly banished. Immerse yourself in an underwater wonderland and you’ll return ready to deal with whatever tasks are facing you.

Horse riding

A strong bond between horse and rider is essential and that requires equestrians to develop intuition and strong non-verbal skills. Go horse riding regularly and you’ll get better at recognising what clients, customers or your fellow employees aren’t telling you directly.

Painting

Creativity and imagination are released when you apply paint to canvas, so explore your inner landscape while painting a familiar one out of doors. You’ll start finding better ways to solve problems creatively in the workplace.

Travelling

There are still many spots on the globe waiting to be explored. Step off the map and into the unknown and you’ll find charting your way through the unknown waters of business gets a whole lot easier.

For all the latest vacancies visit jobs24.com

Posted on April 27, 2018