Do you have a hobby? A few years ago I picked up an old interest, art. At one point, in high school, had thought of pursuing some form of it as a career but dismissed it as not practical enough. Later, work and parenthood meant I didn’t touch a sketchpad or paintbrush for decades. When I finally started it all up again I loved it and it adds something to my life that I’d like to think spills over into other things I do.

The research supports the value of doing things outside of work, both for their own sake and because they actually can improve your productivity when you are working. A 2022 study published in the Creativity Research Journal found that Nobel Prize-winning scientists were disproportionately likely to be “renaissance” intellects with diverse interests including many in creative areas. In the words of the researchers, their “combinatorial approach to learning and doing enables them to perceive unusual problems at the intersections of disciplines, to transfer ideas and techniques from one field to another.”

You can read more in my Globe and Mail article on the subject here