A recent study has found that one in five UK adults spend five hours or less relaxing every week, meaning they are potentially missing out on a concerning 88 hours of weekly relaxation time.
Commissioned by leading tile specialist Topps Tiles, the study of over 1,000 people looked at how much 'me-time' the public give themselves, how we achieve 'me-time' and most importantly, whether we think we get enough of it.
The new research also found that, taking into consideration the average time spent at work and asleep, the average UK adult misses out on a potential 77 hours of relaxation time every week.
When we do find the time to take a break, the most popular ways to relax are watching TV (63%), taking a bath (49%) and reading (47%).
Men seem better equipped than women to handle having less 'me-time' than they should, with a quarter (26%) of male respondents saying they tend to be more stressed and snappy when they haven't had enough time to relax, compared to more than a third (39%) of females surveyed.
Of the most popular ways to chill out, nearly half (48%) of men would choose to have a quiet night in. For women, taking a bath is the preferred method of relaxation (52%), closely followed by reading a good book (51%).
Almost a quarter (23%) of respondents believed that having chill out zone or room in their house would make them feel more relaxed and happy. However, shockingly around one in five (19%) felt they don't have a space in their home where they can go to take some time out.
The UK's top five most stressed cities:
City - Newcastle
Percentage of respondents who spent five hours or less relaxing a week - 28%
City - Birmingham
Percentage of respondents who spent five hours or less relaxing a week - 26%
City - London
Percentage of respondents who spend five hours or less relaxing a week - 23%
City - Leeds
Percentage of respondents who spend five hours or less relaxing a week - 19%
City - Manchester
Percentage of respondents who spend five hours or less relaxing a week - 17%
Speaking about the importance of relaxation time to personal wellbeing, West London based integrative psychologist, Hilda Burke, said "So many of us are held hostage by our to-do lists to the neglect of just doing things that we enjoy and that relax us. Relaxation time shouldn't have an agenda - for each person, it will be something different - from meditation to dancing, walking the dog, reading a good book, watching a movie, or simply taking a bath. Often, the challenge for a lot of people in indulging in enough relaxation activities is that we feel guilty for taking time out for ourselves."
"However, when we spend time alone doing something we enjoy it feeds us and replenishes us, making us a better partner, a better parent or a better friend and, most importantly, a happier person. If we neglect to do it, we can end up feeling frazzled and burnt out, a state which can be detrimental to our own wellbeing and our relationships."
Adding to this, Robin Auld, Head of Marketing at Topps Tiles said "We must remember how vital it is to our state of mind to have some time out from our often demanding lifestyles. It's shocking to see just how much potential relaxation time the public is potentially missing out on every week, and it certainly seems we need to take a step back and indulge in some me time."
"Having a space in your home where you can go to escape from the world is really important. To create the ultimate chill out zone, we recommend keeping it simple, sticking to neutral colours to achieve a Zen environment perfect to help you switch off."
Don't forget to enjoy some 'me time'
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