With all the new technologies and inventions in modern society, it’s been incredibly clear that we try to avoid doing anything with our hands. Anything of hard work is just a click of a button. And the glorification of white-collar intellectual jobs has made labor-intensive work appear like a bad image. But many studies have now come out that actually hard, concentrating work with your hands is good for your brain. Think crafty work like drawing, gardening, sewing, or playing an instrument. Many of these things can be incorporated in a quick work break, and are actually fun. Don’t have anything planned? Check out our crafty services here.
Benefits of working with your hands
Creating something beautiful with your own two hands sparks joy. It has the ability to help turn the mind off and allows one to be fully immersed in the activity. Just realizing what you’ve created can be quite gratifying. It also tunes into your creativity which in turn with the mental break, increases productivity when at work. Many writers claim that their best ideas come when they are not sitting down at the computer but creating and working with their hands.
This mental break also provides rest and relief. Having the mind constantly turned on is not the best for you or your productivity, so embrace whatever happens while creating. And you’ll enjoy the results of not only relaxation but also concentration and jump back straight to work.
How manual activities can stimulate the brain
There are many studies showing how working with your hands provides a hand-mind feedback loop. When your hands get activated by physical touch, endorphins and serotonin (pleasure chemicals) get released in your brain, and levels of cortisol (stress hormone) decrease. So to cap up, as you work with your hands, you provide activities to stimulate the brain by increasing pleasure and decreasing stress.
It can also increase neuroplasticity in the brain meaning an increase of neuron integration so you’ll form new bonds of equal creativity! And we all know how creativity impacts your mental health by providing tremendous benefits for both personal and work life.
With the use of your hands, people have called this the effort-driven circuit; which is activated through effort, concentration, and pleasure.
How working with your hands is good for your mental health
Getting crafty sparks joy, creativity, and inspiration. Countless studies have shown that working with your hands improves mental health, increases your mood, and is a good stress reliever. It can also decrease levels of anxiety and is known to be a resilient form against depression. So if you ever thought of feeling guilty about taking time off work to embrace your inner child’s passion, don’t! These manual activities stimulate the brain so you’re actually doing good for your well-being and your work.
It’s important to note though that it’s not any form of labor work. You can’t just be unclogging the toilet and expect inspiration to come. It’s best to choose an activity that has the perfect balance of hard work and concentration while still satisfying your creativity.
Let’s get crafty
We’ve all heard how sitting at your desk, typing at your computer all day long can be detrimental to your health. So along with physical exercise, consider doing mental exercises giving your thinking mind a break, and letting it flow into creativity. That’s by getting crafty. A great idea would be a virtual office paint day. It’s a wonderful way to incorporate in the now normal hybrid office space. So give your mind a rest and get crafty to bring more brain power to your work life.