The four major factors of true recovery

Over the last weeks, most of what I shared in this newsletter was about how not to spend our leisure time.

My general point was the following: Using that time for tiny bits of occasional work and easy, fast distraction on our smartphones or social media leaves us stressed, overworked and ultimately unproductive.

Spending our leisure time that way is like eating junk food. Packed with empty calories, it doesn’t provide us with the nutrients we need. That “junk leisure” robs us of true recovery – activities that recharge our physical and emotional batteries.

Sabine Sonnentag is one of the world’s leading experts on recovery. Over the last decades, she has studied how recovery affects our productivity, job satisfaction, well-being, health and resilience.

Sonnentag found four major factors of true recovery. According to Alex Pang, who features her research in his great book “Rest”, activities “[…] that are high in all four are the equivalent of nutritious and nourishing meals”.

The first factor is psychological detachment from work. It is vital for true recovery during evenings, weekends and vacations – and the approaches I shared for calling it a day and defusing our weapon of mass distraction provide a good starting point.

The three other factors are relaxation, control, and mastery. According to Sonnentag, the first happens in “a state of low activation and increased positive affect”. Put differently, relaxation includes activities that are undemanding and pleasant.

Control is about having the power to decide how we spend our time, energy, and attention during leisure activities. As it turns out, having control over leisure is especially important for those of us without much control over what happens at work.

Mastery experiences include interesting, engaging things that we do well. These experiences are challenging and mentally absorbing – and get even more rewarding the better we become at doing them.

Starting next week, I will feature specific leisure activities that score high on Sonnentag’s factors – and thus enable true recovery. In the meantime, I’d love to get your feedback, so please leave a comment or email me on the following question:

Which leisure activities provide you with a high degree of mental detachment from work, relaxation, control, or mastery?

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Until next week,
Christian