Why Have We Started Feeling Uncomfortable with Our Free Time
By Gunja Maurya (Therapist)
These days, whenever we have nothing to do, we often pick up our phone instead of simply sitting and relaxing. We open Instagram, watch a few videos, or start talking to someone. It almost feels like we have forgotten how to sit without doing anything.
But have you ever wondered why having free time has started to make us uncomfortable?
Maybe one reason is that we have become used to keeping ourselves busy all the time. From the moment we wake up until we go to bed, there is always something going on. Work, studies, household responsibilities, phones, and social media keep our minds occupied. So, when there is suddenly nothing to do, we may feel that we are wasting our time.
There is another reason too. When we sit quietly, our own thoughts start becoming more noticeable. During the day, we keep ourselves busy with different things, so we hardly get time to notice what is going on inside our mind. But when everything becomes quiet, old memories may come back, worries may appear, or we may start thinking about things we have been avoiding.
That is why we sometimes prefer to stay busy. Being busy helps us take our mind off these thoughts for a while.
But we do not always need to fill every empty moment. Sometimes sitting quietly, going for a walk, having a cup of tea, or simply spending some time with ourselves can also be helpful.
We need to remember that we do not have to be doing something all the time.
Free time is not a waste of time. Sometimes, it is the time when we finally get a chance to understand ourselves a little better.
Maybe instead of always running away from empty moments, we can slowly learn to be comfortable with them.
