Things To Do By Yourself

Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsAlone vs. LonelyThings to DoBenefits of Alone TimeHow to Be Alone

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Table of Contents

Alone vs. Lonely

Things to Do

Benefits of Alone Time

How to Be Alone

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Solitude gets a bad rap because it’s often equated with loneliness. But research has found real benefits to doing things alone.It allows you to enjoy activities you love at your own pace and in your own way, for instance. There are alsomental health benefits of being alone, enabling you to learn more about yourself and reflect on your experiences.

Being Alone vs. Being Lonely

Loneliness involves being isolated despite wanting social connections, whereas being alone means taking time for yourself between regular social interactions. You can be lonely even when in the presence of others. You can also be alone without havingfeelings of loneliness.

Of course, just because you may be introverted doesn’t mean you want to be alone all the time. Even the most introverted of people benefit from social engagement.Being an extrovert also doesn’t mean you aren’t capable of enjoying your own company. Even if you naturally seek a crowd, you can learn how to enjoy time to yourself now and then.

Times When Solitude Can Be BeneficialIt’s voluntaryYou also maintain positive relationshipsYou can engage with social groups when desiredYou feel good about spending time alone

Times When Solitude Can Be Beneficial

It’s voluntaryYou also maintain positive relationshipsYou can engage with social groups when desiredYou feel good about spending time alone

The Health Risks of Loneliness

Things to Do By Yourself

If you are naturally drawn to other people, finding activities to enjoy on your own might seem difficult at first. Adding some quiet moments where you can be alone can come with anumber of benefits,particularly if you arealways on the goand find it hard to slow down and take breaks.

Some things to try include:

Take yourself out to dinner.Dining out is often viewed as a social experience. However, treating yourself to a nice solo meal can give you a chance to relax and enjoy the experience in peace.

Go to the movies alone.It’s not like you spend a lot of time socializing in the middle of a film, but being with other people means you might be distracted wondering what they think of the movie and what they might have to say later. Seeing a film alone means you can fully focus on the story and visuals in front of you without wondering about what your companions might think.

Go for a hike.Spending time in naturecan be great for your health, improving your mental and physical health.It can sometimes be tough to find people who want to join you. Going alone can give you a chance to connect with nature, challenge your body, and enjoy some peaceful solitude.

Travel solo.Vacationing alone may seem intimidating, but it can also be an exciting and rewarding way to challenge yourself and learn new things. Some people find that traveling alone is also a great way tobring more positivityand self-growth into their lives.

Visit a museum.Wandering through a museum on your own is a great way to spend time looking at the exhibits you’re interested in and skip the ones you’re not. It also means that you can check out things at your own pace and react to exhibits without wondering what other people are thinking.

Volunteer.Research has shown that volunteering provides many positive benefits, including improved life satisfaction and higher self-esteem.Look for opportunities in your community where you can devote time to a cause you are passionate about.

Press Play for Advice On Challenging YourselfThis episode ofThe Verywell Mind Podcast, featuring Human Performance Expert Steve Magness, shares how to push yourself to do hard things. Click below to listen now.

Press Play for Advice On Challenging Yourself

This episode ofThe Verywell Mind Podcast, featuring Human Performance Expert Steve Magness, shares how to push yourself to do hard things. Click below to listen now.

Benefits of Being Alone

Improves Concentration and Memory

When you are working in a group, you might exert less effort to memorize information because you assume that others in the group will fill in the gaps, a phenomenon known associal loafing. Working on things alone can help you focus your attention, which can improve your retention and recall.

In one study published in the journalPsychological Bulletin,researchers found that groups working collaboratively to recall information performed worse than individuals recalling things on their own.

Your Interests Are a Priority

Spending time alone gives you time to focus on your interests. It’s an important part of self-development and allows you to get to know yourself.

Boosts Creativity

Collaborative brainstorming is often seen as one of the best ways to generate new ideas. However, research has found that people are just as good atsolving difficult problemswhen they work on their own.Where group efforts are often about achieving consensus and fitting in with the crowd, solo work encourages innovation without added social pressure.

Improves Your Relationships

Relationships are often strongest when each person takes time to take care of themselves. Even when it comes to friendships, the old adage may be true—a little absence might really make the heart grow fonder.

A study published in theBritish Journal of Psychologyfound that highly intelligent people actually become less satisfied the more time they spend socializing with friends.

Having friendships and astrong social support systemis important for your mental health and well-being. At the same time, taking a break and going solo once in a while may help you appreciate those connections all the more.

Makes You More Empathetic

Being alone doesn’t come naturally to everyone. If you are used to surrounding yourself with friends and family or even prefer the company of strangers, learning to appreciate the joys of going solo may take some time.

Of course, you don’t need to completely escape all forms of external stimulation when you are alone. The key is to engage in activities that allow you to feel a sense of inner solitude. Some people can achieve this feeling whilelistening to musicor reading a book, while others might require the quiet of apeaceful meditation session.

Find what works for you. Then, make sure you have regular moments where you can retreat to this quiet mental space.

Summary

Whether you are an introvert who thrives on solitude or a gregarious extrovert who loves to socialize, a little high-quality time to yourself can be good for your overall well-being. Choosing to be alone at times can be rejuvenating, especially if it is something you choose and something you enjoy.

The trick is to remember that thisalone timeis for focusing on you—for cultivating your passions, finding new inspirations, getting to know yourself better, or even engaging in some much-needed rest and relaxation. Even when you are busy, pencil in a little time each week for some moments of seclusion.

How to Cope With Feelings of Loneliness

10 SourcesVerywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Weinstein N, Nguyen T, Hansen H.What time alone offers: Narratives of solitude from adolescence to older adulthood.Front Psychol. 2021;12:714518. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.714518Coplan RJ, Ooi LL, Baldwin D.Does it matter when we want to be alone? Exploring developmental timing effects in the implications of unsociability.New Ideas Psychol. 2019;53:47-57. doi:10.1016/j.newideapsych.2018.01.001Tuovinen S, Tang X, Salmela-Aro K.Introversion and social engagement: Scale validation, their interaction, and positive association with self-esteem.Front Psychol. 2020;11:590748. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2020.590748Oh B, Lee KJ, Zaslawski C, et al.Health and well-being benefits of spending time in forests: systematic review.Environ Health Prevent Med. 2017;22:71. doi:10.1186/s12199-017-0677-9Hamid S, Ali R, Azhar M, Khan S.Solo travel and well-being amongst women: an exploratory study. 2021;2:1.Indones J Tour Leisure. doi:10.36256/ijtl.v2i1.125Yeung JWK, Zhang Z, Kim TY.Volunteering and health benefits in general adults: cumulative effects and forms.BMC Public Health. 2017;18:8. doi:10.1186/s12889-017-4561-8Marion SB, Thorley C.A meta-analytic review of collaborative inhibition and postcollaborative memory: Testing the predications of the retrieval strategy disruption hypothesis.Psychol Bull. 2016;142(11):1141-1164. doi:10.1037/bul0000071Brand C, Hartmann C, Loibl K, Rummel N.Do students learn more from failing alone or in groups? Insights into the effects of collaborative versus individual problem solving in productive failure.Instr Sci. 2023;51:953-976. doi:10.1007/s11251-023-09619-7Li NP, Kanazawa S.Country roads, take me home… to my friends: How intelligence, population density, and friendship affect modern happiness.Brit J Psychol. 2016;107(4):675-697. doi:10.1111/bjop.12181Uhls YT, Michikyan M, Morris J, et al.Five days at outdoor education camp without screens improves preteen skills with nonverbal emotion cues.Comp Human Behav. 2014;39:387-392. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2014.05.036

10 Sources

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Weinstein N, Nguyen T, Hansen H.What time alone offers: Narratives of solitude from adolescence to older adulthood.Front Psychol. 2021;12:714518. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.714518Coplan RJ, Ooi LL, Baldwin D.Does it matter when we want to be alone? Exploring developmental timing effects in the implications of unsociability.New Ideas Psychol. 2019;53:47-57. doi:10.1016/j.newideapsych.2018.01.001Tuovinen S, Tang X, Salmela-Aro K.Introversion and social engagement: Scale validation, their interaction, and positive association with self-esteem.Front Psychol. 2020;11:590748. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2020.590748Oh B, Lee KJ, Zaslawski C, et al.Health and well-being benefits of spending time in forests: systematic review.Environ Health Prevent Med. 2017;22:71. doi:10.1186/s12199-017-0677-9Hamid S, Ali R, Azhar M, Khan S.Solo travel and well-being amongst women: an exploratory study. 2021;2:1.Indones J Tour Leisure. doi:10.36256/ijtl.v2i1.125Yeung JWK, Zhang Z, Kim TY.Volunteering and health benefits in general adults: cumulative effects and forms.BMC Public Health. 2017;18:8. doi:10.1186/s12889-017-4561-8Marion SB, Thorley C.A meta-analytic review of collaborative inhibition and postcollaborative memory: Testing the predications of the retrieval strategy disruption hypothesis.Psychol Bull. 2016;142(11):1141-1164. doi:10.1037/bul0000071Brand C, Hartmann C, Loibl K, Rummel N.Do students learn more from failing alone or in groups? Insights into the effects of collaborative versus individual problem solving in productive failure.Instr Sci. 2023;51:953-976. doi:10.1007/s11251-023-09619-7Li NP, Kanazawa S.Country roads, take me home… to my friends: How intelligence, population density, and friendship affect modern happiness.Brit J Psychol. 2016;107(4):675-697. doi:10.1111/bjop.12181Uhls YT, Michikyan M, Morris J, et al.Five days at outdoor education camp without screens improves preteen skills with nonverbal emotion cues.Comp Human Behav. 2014;39:387-392. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2014.05.036

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

Weinstein N, Nguyen T, Hansen H.What time alone offers: Narratives of solitude from adolescence to older adulthood.Front Psychol. 2021;12:714518. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.714518Coplan RJ, Ooi LL, Baldwin D.Does it matter when we want to be alone? Exploring developmental timing effects in the implications of unsociability.New Ideas Psychol. 2019;53:47-57. doi:10.1016/j.newideapsych.2018.01.001Tuovinen S, Tang X, Salmela-Aro K.Introversion and social engagement: Scale validation, their interaction, and positive association with self-esteem.Front Psychol. 2020;11:590748. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2020.590748Oh B, Lee KJ, Zaslawski C, et al.Health and well-being benefits of spending time in forests: systematic review.Environ Health Prevent Med. 2017;22:71. doi:10.1186/s12199-017-0677-9Hamid S, Ali R, Azhar M, Khan S.Solo travel and well-being amongst women: an exploratory study. 2021;2:1.Indones J Tour Leisure. doi:10.36256/ijtl.v2i1.125Yeung JWK, Zhang Z, Kim TY.Volunteering and health benefits in general adults: cumulative effects and forms.BMC Public Health. 2017;18:8. doi:10.1186/s12889-017-4561-8Marion SB, Thorley C.A meta-analytic review of collaborative inhibition and postcollaborative memory: Testing the predications of the retrieval strategy disruption hypothesis.Psychol Bull. 2016;142(11):1141-1164. doi:10.1037/bul0000071Brand C, Hartmann C, Loibl K, Rummel N.Do students learn more from failing alone or in groups? Insights into the effects of collaborative versus individual problem solving in productive failure.Instr Sci. 2023;51:953-976. doi:10.1007/s11251-023-09619-7Li NP, Kanazawa S.Country roads, take me home… to my friends: How intelligence, population density, and friendship affect modern happiness.Brit J Psychol. 2016;107(4):675-697. doi:10.1111/bjop.12181Uhls YT, Michikyan M, Morris J, et al.Five days at outdoor education camp without screens improves preteen skills with nonverbal emotion cues.Comp Human Behav. 2014;39:387-392. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2014.05.036

Weinstein N, Nguyen T, Hansen H.What time alone offers: Narratives of solitude from adolescence to older adulthood.Front Psychol. 2021;12:714518. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.714518

Coplan RJ, Ooi LL, Baldwin D.Does it matter when we want to be alone? Exploring developmental timing effects in the implications of unsociability.New Ideas Psychol. 2019;53:47-57. doi:10.1016/j.newideapsych.2018.01.001

Tuovinen S, Tang X, Salmela-Aro K.Introversion and social engagement: Scale validation, their interaction, and positive association with self-esteem.Front Psychol. 2020;11:590748. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2020.590748

Oh B, Lee KJ, Zaslawski C, et al.Health and well-being benefits of spending time in forests: systematic review.Environ Health Prevent Med. 2017;22:71. doi:10.1186/s12199-017-0677-9

Hamid S, Ali R, Azhar M, Khan S.Solo travel and well-being amongst women: an exploratory study. 2021;2:1.Indones J Tour Leisure. doi:10.36256/ijtl.v2i1.125

Yeung JWK, Zhang Z, Kim TY.Volunteering and health benefits in general adults: cumulative effects and forms.BMC Public Health. 2017;18:8. doi:10.1186/s12889-017-4561-8

Marion SB, Thorley C.A meta-analytic review of collaborative inhibition and postcollaborative memory: Testing the predications of the retrieval strategy disruption hypothesis.Psychol Bull. 2016;142(11):1141-1164. doi:10.1037/bul0000071

Brand C, Hartmann C, Loibl K, Rummel N.Do students learn more from failing alone or in groups? Insights into the effects of collaborative versus individual problem solving in productive failure.Instr Sci. 2023;51:953-976. doi:10.1007/s11251-023-09619-7

Li NP, Kanazawa S.Country roads, take me home… to my friends: How intelligence, population density, and friendship affect modern happiness.Brit J Psychol. 2016;107(4):675-697. doi:10.1111/bjop.12181

Uhls YT, Michikyan M, Morris J, et al.Five days at outdoor education camp without screens improves preteen skills with nonverbal emotion cues.Comp Human Behav. 2014;39:387-392. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2014.05.036

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