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Productivity and goal-setting should not be confined to work, some recreational enthusiasts say.
By Lora Kelley
Americans work a lot. And lately, even when they’re not working, many bring the outlook and energy of their jobs to their personal lives. Parents are using Slack to run their households as if they were corporate headquarters, and couples are syncing on Trello and Asana to project-manage their vacations and date nights. At least a few college students are logging onto Google Calendar to schedule friend outings, along with, well, hookups.
Hobbies are not safe. Setting goals in off hours — what some call “leisure crafting” — looks a bit like another example of letting work-brain logic worm its way into personal lives. But done right, it can help you feel a sense of purpose, confidence and accomplishment that’s unrelated to work, said Alex Hamrick, a management professor at the University of Richmond who has written about the topic. (He, for instance, recently got into kayaking.)
