Leisure Time

http://www.bls.gov/tus/charts/leisure.htm (note: Those are American stats just to show as an example. This discussion is for everybody.)

I was thinking about this as my history teacher pointed out to me that she can tell I read just from reading my analyses and essays.

Do you think that people spend too much time on things that don't have any large intellectual value for the long run? Do you think that people should be spending more time reading / studying / etc and trying to make themselves smarter? Should parents focus more attention on trying to make their children smarter and force them to study more and try to have an interest in learning during their free time? Or maybe you think that you can't force somebody to want to learn and people should spend their time any way they please.

So yeah, leisure time and all its perks and quirks. Discuss!

lol'ed at .8 hours of computer time (and even more at average 25 min)

To be honest, I'm a person with a lot of free time. And seeing as I sit on the computer all day, anything I say is gonna sound really hypocritical. But yeah, I do think people should do something with their leisure time. It doesn't necessarily have to be productive, like say reading/studying (although that's perfectly encouraged), but I just think people need to balance it out. Spending all of your free time engrossed in one activity can't be the most mentally or physically healthy thing. I think actively participating in different events will just..make the quality of life better? Not really sure how to explain it, yet I'm sure you understand. It goes without saying that you're better off reading and playing outside instead of watching hours of TV, but to go further, I'm just looking past the "value" of each activity and advocating more variety.

I also lol'd at 25 minutes of computer time.

I think I read somewhere that the ideal way to spend your day is 8 hours of sleep, 8 hours of work, and 8 hours of play. (Play meaning "leisure time" I suppose)

Personally I believe that leisure time is very important. Everyone needs time to unwind and do the things they enjoy; otherwise life can get very stressful and overbearing very easily. :c

So in my view, leisure time is quite "productive". Everyone should dedicate a fair amount of time to relax. I know a lot of people believe leisure time is "unproductive" and try to make up for it by cutting out a lot of it. But really, that usually just ends up making them feel even less fulfilled and more strained; and in severe cases, it can even lead to depression.

Summary: Leisure time is very healthy and essential to keep your life happy, in my opinion [: As long as you can balance it with work and sleep, free time isn't a bad thing in the slightest~

Going from what Shhmew mentioned, I think leisure time in itself is "productive," so to speak; though it's not productive in the sense we normally think about. Life can become quite stressful and difficult to handle when everything continues piling up without giving yourself time to relax. Like diet and exercise, allotting enough time for work and leisure is important towards living a healthy lifestyle.

I'm not entirely liking the idea about young children being forced to spend their leisure time studying or anything against their will; that would be counterproductive if the child is absolutely against it. When I was younger though, my parents often asked me to read for them to improve my literacy along with buying math workbooks for me to improve my mathematics and problem solving. It's different for every kid, but I personally liked doing them. So if I were a parent, I wouldn't necessarily force them to do it, but let them understand how important it is to be educated.