Leisure Managers

The above exemplified authors agree on several very pertinent points. For one, leisure is useful in creating the border between life and work. Leisure is an engagement that helps demarcate the point at which work is no longer an obligation and where an individual gets a moment to rest, rejuvenate and replenish his or her enthusiasm for the next session or work. Hard work, goals and accomplishments can never replace the need for doing nothing and if one insists on it, the body will automatically switch off in self preservation or worse, break down in health complications.

For an individual to balance life and work, whether at home or at the work place, leisure activities act as the measuring rod. Even in work places, frequent coffee breaks, lunch breaks and a chat here and there helps improve productivity `and efficiency at work, since the work-only spells have been broken down. The experts agree that the importance of leisure is underscored by the fact that it is the only time that the body and the mind get to renew, relax and reinvigorate itself ready for more taxing engagements (Trenberth & Dewe, 2002).

The greatest test of life today is maintaining a balance in life and work. Experts agree that it is important to use leisure as the scale of scoring the balance between work and life, and maintaining that balance at the optimal level. Without achieving that balance and maintaining it, life will be plagued by one adversity and another, from health to social problems (Gini, 2003).

From the foregoing arguments, it is easy to see the role that leisure managers can play to facilitate the balance of work and life. It means that managers of leisure facilities must craft such activities as will stimulate enjoyments and not other taxing engagements. Leisure managers must strive to create environments that are different from work places, where the mind and the body are not taxed but relaxed (Cooke, 1994). Activities like massages, games, therapies, meditation are fine examples of the exact type of activities that will help people put demarcations on their work and personal lives.

One thing that leisure managers should avoid is creating formal environments typical of most work places. Leisure facilities should places where individuals are themselves, without obligations and expectations, where only creativity, modesty and self control are called for. If people can be themselves, they can break off from the outside world and attain complete relaxation, the leisure facility will have attained a great and royal clientele base (Cooke, 1994).

At the end of the day, the greatest leisure facilities are those that have no comparison with formal work places or even homes. Experts use football fans, soccer fans and other sports’ fans as an example of what leisure manager should strive to build in their facilities. These fans are attracted by the lack of expectations on their part and the complete informality of their participation (Cooke, 1994).

As a conclusion, I feel that there is a great link between happiness and the balance between personal life and work life. If these two areas of life are balanced and kept from overriding each other, there is a chance that an individual will perform better in each and thus derive more satisfaction and happiness from his or her life in general. Ideally, the more balanced an individual’s life is, the longer he or she can sustain it at optimal productivity, the happier healthy and productive that individual will be.

Leisure activities are essential in measuring the existing balance of the two, life and work. If one cannot manage to consistently engage in leisure, then work has dominated personal life. That means that leisure acts as a barometer to measure the commitment and attainment of balance between personal life and work. More importantly, leisure activities are a way of rejuvenating the self in readiness of the next engagement, further enabling one to perform more efficiently in work sessions (Trenberth & Dewe, 2002).