People Who Mentally Disengage From Work Are Happier
I think “just relax” is my theme today. Here’s an interesting new article by researcher Sabine Sonnentag, published in the journal Current Directions in Psychological Science. Titled “Psychological Detachment From Work During Leisure Time: The Benefits of Mentally Disengaging From Work,” its main findings is that “employees who experience more detachment from work during off-hours are more satisfied with their lives and experience fewer symptoms of psychological strain, without being less engaged while at work.” (“Detachment” is defined as “a state in which people mentally disconnect from work and do not think about job-related issues when they are away from their job.”)
How adept are you at detaching from your job? I admit that I’m not so good at this. But what if your work is interesting? What if you want to keep thinking about your work? Some of the happiest people I know are totally and almost constantly absorbed in their professional obsessions . . . but maybe that’s different from worrying or stressing about a job. What do you think?
My dad is another person who, like you, is totally obsessed with his job. He’s a university computer instructor. He loves his job. It’s like he gets to play with Legos all day. Work and play are pretty much the same thing for him.
I think the difference between people like him and many of the people in the study is that the majority of people who think about work outside of work are not playing with Legos in their heads. They are worried or angry about some political issue. In their cases, for sure, it’s best to learn to disengage just as it’s good for anyone to take a break from worry or anger long enough to relax, get some sleep, bring a good mood back, etc.
It would be interesting to see a study that isolated “play” thought from “worry” or “anger” thought.