Hobbies don’t just improve personal lives, they can boost workplace creativity too
Peer-Reviewed Publication
Updates every hour. Last Updated: 13-Jan-2026 10:11 ET (13-Jan-2026 15:11 GMT/UTC)
As millions of us embark on New Year pledges to eat better, exercise more and learn something new, research published today suggests hobbies could do more than improve your personal life, they could make you better at work.
The study by researchers from the University of East Anglia (UEA) and Erasmus University Rotterdam explored how ‘leisure crafting’ - intentionally shaping your free time through goal setting, learning and connection - does not just boost well-being outside the office but can spill over into creativity, engagement, and meaning at work, especially for older employees.
Entrepreneurs driven by independence and creativity are far more likely to feel satisfied with their lives than those motivated by status or money, according to new research from King’s Business School, King’s College London.
Researchers at Kyushu University provide new evidence that strong environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices enhance both corporate intrinsic value and overall market efficiency. Their findings also show that ESG performance has a greater impact than disclosure alone, particularly in advanced economies, and highlight the importance of high-quality, transparent ESG reporting.
A large-scale register-based study conducted at the University of Oulu, Finland, shows that the propensity of top corporate executives to engage in financial misconduct is strongly associated with the financial crime history of their parents, spouses, and their childhood living environment.
Decades of progress in medicine and public health are driving rapid global aging, straining healthcare systems and national budgets worldwide. In a recent study, researchers from Japan present an improved method for calculating the monetary value of a ‘quality-adjusted life year,’ addressing the limitations of the conventional way of computing this metric. Their analysis using data from Japan shows how considering various age and quality of life patterns can help determine more cost-effective policy decisions.