Free time is precious and you want to make the most of it as much as possible. But leisure behavior has changed significantly.

As the “Leisure Monitor 2018” shows, real social activities such as sports, gardening or playing music are now only of secondary importance: online activities dominate.

This is what the “ press release ” says:

Watching TV or listening to music, reading the newspaper, surfing the Internet or making phone calls – when it comes to leisure activities for Germans, media use is at the top. The reason for this is the media dominance due to the omnipresent offer, the convenience, but also the fear of many citizens of missing out on something. This emerges from the “ Leisure Monitor 2018 ” by the BAT Foundation for Future Issues, for which over 3,000 German citizens were surveyed.

Whether news, entertainment or social contacts – everything can now be done virtually at any time and from anywhere. Younger people in particular believe that they will be out quickly if they are not constantly online. So people make phone calls in all situations, respond to every message as quickly as possible and comment on social media. However, this 24/7 presence comes at a price. More and more citizens feel overwhelmed by the flood of media and want to switch off more often.

Social activities are “only” secondary

People continue to value their own free time - but is it also the time in which you can do exactly what you want? Fewer and fewer German citizens spend their free time on classic leisure activities such as sports, playing music, gardening, DIY or even excursions. More and more time (up to 100 percent for younger people) is being spent on passive media consumption. Only three social activities (spending time with your partner, talking about important things and drinking coffee) and four regenerative activities (pursuing your thoughts, sleeping in, taking care of yourself in peace, lazing around) make it into the ranking of the most common leisure activities.

There are parallels and differences between the genders. Both women and men would like to be spontaneous more often, go on more trips and simply sleep in more often. Women have a much greater desire to go shopping, go dancing, take advantage of wellness offers, do handicrafts or attend a musical. Men, on the other hand, would like to do crafts more often, go to the regulars' table, travel by car or motorcycle and have sex more often - but that usually doesn't work.

Leisure stress instead of relaxation

The everyday leisure life of many German citizens therefore resembles a stress rally. They jump from one activity to the next, do numerous activities at the same time and want to be there everywhere - out of fear of missing something. They often take on too much in their free time and try to optimize and use every free minute. They would actually rather meet up with friends, spontaneously follow their needs or simply lie lazily on the couch so that they can pursue their own thoughts.


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Notes:
1) This content reflects the current state of affairs at the time of publication. The reproduction of individual images, screenshots, embeds or video sequences serves to discuss the topic. 2) Individual contributions were created through the use of machine assistance and were carefully checked by the Mimikama editorial team before publication. ( Reason )