Moments of Solitude: Why Spending Time Alone is Important
As the saying goes, ‘No man is an island.’ Truly enough, people are born as social creatures who love to interact with anything and everything. However, being alone is also crucial for an individual, especially for his mental health.
Surrounding yourself with people is good for your physical and emotional health, but sometimes they tend to bring more stress than happiness. Moreover, we often associate being alone with loneliness. But, contrary to popular belief, being alone doesn’t always equate to being sad. People just prefer to dwell into the solitude isolation brings.
It doesn’t matter whether you are an extrovert or introvert; sometimes we just really need to shut off the world around us to be able to focus on our inner selves.
Here are some reasons why you need to spend some time alone.
Personal Exploration
Being able to tap into your inner self and light up the parts in you that are (and in need) to be discovered is one of the benefits of spending time by yourself. You can try and explore new things without interference and judgement of your outer bubble. Whether be it learning a new skill, researching on a topic that peaked your interest, or trying new ways of self-expression, being alone gives you all the freedom to do.
Also, without our everyday lives going at a fast pace, we are bombarded with various views and opinions that they sometimes drown out the voice speaking within us. Spending time alone will give you time to reflect on who you are as a person; your morals, values, and every little thing that constitutes you. It also gives you time to reflect on who you are, and accept the things that make up who you are. And most important of all, it helps you to be comfortable in your own skin.
Strengthens Creativity
According to a research published by the journal Nature Communication in 2020, being alone fuels your creativity as a way to compensate for the lack of interaction.
This is the reason why a lot of artists and authors tend to isolate themselves so that they can let their thoughts wander and translate them into their craft. Isolation also helps you focus on your task. Personally, I really hate it when someone interrupts me when I’m already in the groove for writing — it makes all the ideas burst like a bubble in an instant!
Relieves Stress
When we are alone, the pressure (and sometimes need) to please and interact with others completely lifts off our shoulders. Social interaction can be a bit stressful to other people, especially if their social battery is already drained. And what is a better way to recharge those social batteries? Be alone and recollect yourself through meditation, yoga, or make some crafts.
Increases mental strength
Though we can always rely upon our friends and families during difficult times, we cannot always ask them to help us carry our extra baggage, as they have their own to carry, too.
Being able to sit in solitude and embrace your thoughts, fears, anxiety, hopes, dreams, and other emotions build your mental strength. It also helps you make better decisions and actions. However, it is important to note that it’s okay to ask for help when you truly need it.
Other studies proved that embracing the comfort of being alone will improve your stress management, will give you that feeling of satisfaction, and just increased happiness overall.
You get to do what you want
This is probably my favorite thing about being alone. I can sing my heart out, sway my hips to the beat, or bawl my eyes out without the worry of someone looking and judging. Plus, it isn’t every day that you get the chance to do the stuff that you want so don’t hesitate to grab the opportunity when it comes.
Increases productivity
Doing projects or assignments in groups or with your colleagues is surely a good thing — you can exchange ideas and help each other out. But these group studies usually end up in more chatter and gossip than doing the actual work! Trust me, I’ve been there a lot of times during my college years.
Sometimes, you need to be alone in order to get things done. Save that tea for later and focus on your task first!
Gives you the opportunity to plan your life ahead
When was the last time you checked on that bucket list? Are you on the right track to achieving that goal you set in life? Or have you established a life goal in the first place?
Being alone gives you the opportunity to plan the life ahead of you. What are your short-term and long-term goals and how do you plan on achieving them? Do you need to make some changes and adjustments?
Signs you need to spend time alone
If you are feeling or experiencing these things lately, then maybe it’s time to shut off the world and focus on yourself first.
- Feeling or being easily overwhelmed
- Losing interest in doing stuff with other people
- Feeling or getting anxious in being around other people
- Being easily irritated with the smallest things or reasons
- Short temperedness
- Cannot concentrate properly
How to spend time by yourself
- Schedule- of course, you need to clear your calendar first so you can maximize your time being alone. There’s nothing more irritating than being constantly interrupted during your precious ‘me’ time.
- Stay away from social media for a while- your focus should be on yourself and not on what everyone else is doing, so turn off that social media for a while to get rid yourself of distractions
- Take long walks- now this is something I personally do when I’m feeling overwhelmed by the hustle and bustle of life. Take some time to appreciate nature outside or go exploring routes you haven’t ventured on before. There are lots of new adventures and amazing discoveries waiting for you.
Things you can do all by yourself
- Treat yourself out to dinner- Some people say that it’s sad to eat all by yourself, but this isn’t always the case. This is something I personally do — I head on to my favorite fast food place and enjoy the meal and peace that comes along with it.
- Go watch movies alone- The only thing that needs to keep you company is the bucket of popcorn in your hands. You don’t need to focus on what other people think about the movie — just sit there and indulge yourself in the film.
- Go to concerts alone- Okay, this is another I personally love to do. I’ve been to a lot of concerts and music festivals before, alone. You don’t have to worry about not having a concert buddy — you’ll find dozens of them in the show. Not only that you get to enjoy seeing your favorite artists perform live, but you also get to meet new friends who share the same interests as you!
- Go hiking- this is a good way to spend time alone with nature! Go get your hiking gears and start conquering new summits all the while reflecting on things on your way up!
