WHY IS 10 MINUTES OUT EACH DAY SO IMPORTANT?
04 October 2011
Are you busy? Rebalancing your life could be as simple as Taking 10 minutes out a day.
Multi-tasking is no longer something reserved for fictional
super-Mums. Recent research shows that the average British woman
juggles an astonishing 6.2 roles every day - compared with 4.7
roles for their slacking menfolk.
These roles include essential ones like mother, housekeeper,
colleague, friend and daughter, and it appears that 97% feel
stressed, with 67% always or often putting the needs of others
before their own.
This overstretching especially effects women over 35 years old
and women with children, but they tend to feel guilty if they do
something about it.
Just over one third of women (34%) aged 35-44 feel guilty if
they try to focus on themselves for as little as 10 minutes.
And 29% of women with children living at home feel the same
way.
So what's the effect on women of neglecting themselves to
concentrate on others? From what we hear, it's not good.
More than one in 10 (13%) women feel 'so stressed out they can't
remember what it feels like to be calm or content' and over 2 in 5
(42%) admit to 'becoming someone they don't want to be when
stressed.' A substantial 41% of women who rarely take time to
reconnect with themselves, lack self-confidence and one in five
(21%) feel unhappy
Even more worrying is the kind of thing women are doing to
compensate for over-working. Our research showed a third of
women who reconnect try to unwind by drinking wine (35%) and over a
third by overeating (34%).
By marked contrast, women who allow themselves "me-time" at
least once a day report being confident (64%) and happy
(78%).
One unexpected finding was that women are not at all unaware of
this problem.
A huge 82% of British women see making time for themselves as a
priority, yet less than half (47%) actually achieve it once a week
or more. Running the household (79%) and looking after family (71%)
is high priority
Inspired by this research, Twinings has embarked on a
journey to encourage women across the UK take a bit of time each
day to reconnect with themselves. We call this initiative
Take 10 with Twinings.
The benefits of taking 10 minutes on a regular basis seem quite
clear - 28% of women who regularly take time out never or rarely
feel stressed. Furthermore, more than a quarter of women (28%)
believe they perform better and 24% believe they are nicer people
if they have stopped to take 10 minutes out.
In fact, the benefits are hormonal and physiological as well.
Chartered Psychologist, Nancy Beesley explains:
"Just 10 minutes of relaxation or partaking in an
enjoyable activity is essential for keeping a healthy balance of
the hormones associated with happiness levels. Cortisol is created
by the body to mobilise energy and our fight or flight response and
if we have too much of this by not slowing down and taking time out
to relax, it keeps the body and mind on constant alert, limiting
the release of the feel-good hormone serotonin, as well as reducing
our immune function."
So what do the women who are taking 10 minutes each day actually
do?
Of those women we polled online who reconnect, 74% said reading
a book, going online, or watching a film helps them reconnect and
feel their absolute best. Half said seeing friends and family is a
good way to unwind, and over half (52%) nominated the simple
solution of having a cup of tea.
As part of our campaign, Twinings has created a new place to
help women make the most of their 10 minutes each day. We've drawn
from what women said in this research and created a range of fun
and unusual ways to relax or recharge. Why not give it a try
now - and let us know what you think?
All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc.
Total sample size was 2027 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between
16th - 18th August 2011. The survey was carried out online.
The figures have been weighted and are representative of all GB
adults (aged 18+).
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