From work to ballet, from a coffee date to the cinema, and also learning a language on your cell phone while your favorite series flickers on the television. Recreation? None. Psychologist Ulrike Juchmann knows what helps against leisure stress.
Do you know that too? For some people, asking for a meeting feels more like requesting an audience – that’s how busy their schedules are. They won’t have time for a coffee date again for another six weeks, and everything will be full before then. Even in their free time, one appointment chases another. It is therefore not surprising that they find it difficult to relax outside of working hours – those affected suffer Leisure stress. Psychologist and mindfulness expert Ulrike Juchmann reveals in an interview when this becomes a problem and how we can spend our time more mindfully.
Ms. Juchmann, in a recent survey by the opinion research institute Yougov, 50 percent of those surveyed said they sometimes or often were in the Leisure time feeling stressed. Is that alarming?
Anyone who feels stressed usually feels the effects of too much. You feel inner restlessness, rushed and overwhelmed. This can have a negative effect on the psyche and the body. And sometimes it’s not just everyday work that’s stressful, but life as a whole feels stressful.
When should I take leisure stress seriously and counteract it?