According to research done by the Campaign To End Loneliness in 2022, 49.63% of UK adults reported feeling lonely occasionally, sometimes, often or always. Furthermore, around 7.1% of the UK adults experience chronic loneliness, meaning they feel lonely often or always. Chronic loneliness can lead to mental health problems, increased stress levels and negatively affect your overall health.
However, there are several ways to relieve feelings of loneliness including meeting new people, talking to a therapist, joining a sports team or taking up a new activity. In this article, we discuss 4 activities to help combat loneliness and boost your mood.
1) Gardening
Often done alone and in peace, gardening can help people feel a part of something bigger as well as helping them to feel more connected to nature. But gardening doesn’t have to be done on your own, gardening with others can reduce loneliness by bringing people’s interest in gardening together and creating a group or community. Gardening can help people to redirect their thinking, engage their mind in something else and express their creativity. Additionally, spending time outdoors is refreshing and uplifting, leading to a better overall mood.
2) Dog Walking
If you’re a dog lover, you may want to consider getting a pet dog. Many people live alone, therefore increasing the likelihood of loneliness. A dog can provide companionship, increase your social interaction, boost your mood and give you a sense of purpose and responsibility. Dog walking is a gentle form of activity and it is a great way to meet new people in your area while increasing your fitness. If you don’t have the space for a dog in your home, becoming a dog walker or offering to walk someone else’s dog for them are other ways of taking up this multipurpose activity.
3) Volunteering
Doing small acts of kindness or getting involved in charity work can make a significant difference to your metal health. There are many ways to support a charity including store assistance, fundraising, event planning and so on. Volunteering can bring you a new sense of purpose, develop friendships with like-minded people, make a positive impact on other people’s lives, boost your self-esteem and sense of belonging, all of these can help relieve feelings of loneliness and isolation.
4) Become A Companion
If you want to help others who suffer from loneliness or isolation, becoming a companion is very rewarding as it can increase your people skills and gives you a sense of purpose. If you have a caring nature towards others and a genuine desire to help other people, then you will enjoy being a companion for someone in need. Being a companion involves a variety of different activities, depending on the individual’s needs. Examples of activities include providing company to an individual, taking walks with them, assisting with general housework, preparing meals, collecting grocery shopping, running errands and assisting on trips.
Join Taskm8 Today
If you are a specialist or enjoy any of the above activities, put your skills to good use and join Taskm8. Our online platform is a new great way to meet new people in your local community, we want to help combat loneliness and boost your mood. Whether you are gifted with gardening or want to support a good cause, we can provide you with a great opportunity to earn extra income upon completion of a task. The types of tasks can vary from general housework and painting to dog sitting/walking and garden maintenance.
To join Taskm8, register as a m8 today and get full access to an endless list of tasks that people in your area need help with. Alternatively, download our app on the App Store or Google Play. For more information, read our FAQs page or please get in contact with us.