Top 4 Reasons Why it Pays to Give Others Some of Your Time

It can seem like there are not enough hours in the day to do the things you need to do to take care of yourself, let alone volunteer your time to help someone else. While it is a nice thought, it often just doesn’t seem feasible. You’re not being selfish, your responsibilities to your own life are often a 24/7 job. But when some free time does come around, and your schedule suddenly opens up, it wouldn’t hurt to volunteer some of that time to do something good for the community. It doesn’t even have to be for the whole community. It can be for a stranger, even for a family member. Below are 4 reasons why it pays to volunteer some of your time.

The Happiness Effect

Helping other people fosters and creates feelings of happiness in us. Studies have demonstrated that the more people volunteer and give of themselves, the happier they tend to be. The highs that people get from volunteering are comparable to significant salary raises (the difference between making $20,000 to $100,000-$200,000 per year). Feeling that you are making a contribution to society is something that most human beings, on some level, crave.

Volunteering Makes you Feel as Though you Have More Time to Spare

Volunteering actually increases the perception that you have more time. Giving your time to other people has the effect of making you feel like you have a greater amount of time at your disposal than if you were to simply allocate all of your time to yourself. When you allow yourself to help other people, the fact that you are doing something positive makes you feel as though your schedule is fuller, and with more important activities.

Develop New Skills

Whether you are getting paid for your work, or giving it away for free, you are still learning something. Skills-based volunteering is not only a great way to build new skills that will serve you personally, but they can be added to your resume. This is particularly true of volunteering that gives you leadership and executive experience. Simply helping to manage water distribution at a local community half-marathon, or plan a fundraiser event for a local charity group can leave you with organizational and management skills that future employers will look highly upon.

You Build Relationships With People Outside Your Immediate Social Circle

Perhaps one of the biggest reasons to volunteer is the people you will meet. Not only are you meeting other like-minded people who are philosophically on the same page as you about giving up some of their free time to help others, you are meeting people with a variety of positions in the community. You truly never know who you will meet by volunteering your time. You may be able to mutually offer something to one another, strike up a friendship, receive and give knowledge and advice, and gain new experience in your education, career, and personal life.

Volunteering some of your time is not always feasible, but when it is, you should think about it. When you volunteer, you gain a better perspective on all of the things that other people have done for you throughout your life. You make new connections with people you otherwise would probably not have met, learn valuable skills and increase your overall levels of happiness by contributing and giving back to the community that supports you. Consider the above benefits of volunteering and do something for yourself and the community. If your volunteer experience is part of an academic requirement, check out Homework Help Canada’s services page. We help clients with writeups for their volunteer work so contact us today.

References:

(2016). “5 Ways Volunteering Improves Your Chances of Getting a Job.” ondon School of Economics. Retrieved from: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/careers/2016/11/24/5-ways-volunteering-improves-your-chances-of-getting-a-job/

Next Avenue. (2015). “5 Surprising Benefits of Volunteering.” Forbes. Retrieved from: http://www.forbes.com/sites/nextavenue/2015/03/19/5-surprising-benefits-of-volunteering/2/#6f886e5d6810

Segal, J., & Robinson, L. (2016). “Volunteering and its Surprising Benefits.” Help Guide. Retrieved from: https://www.helpguide.org/articles/work-career/volunteering-and-its-surprising-benefits.htm