Ways That DIY Is Good For Your Physical And Mental Health
Engaging in home renovation, repair, and refurbishment projects on your own — without the help of a professional contractor — is great for your physical and mental wellness. In addition, the boost that finishing a project can bring is immense and really energizes a homeowner's life.
Healthline notes that even smaller projects, such as a holiday gift for a friend you've made rather than bought, can impart significant mental health benefits from stress relief to greater focus. The mental wellness aspects of DIY projects alone are powerful and well worth the effort. Still, internal wellness isn't the only benefit homeowners can gain from making things on their own or engaging in repairs to their property without the help of others.
The physical benefits ingrained in DIY work are equally versatile. A homeowner seeking to repair a sprinkler system or an individual sprinkler head, for instance, will need to toil away in the garden, beginning with the excavation work required. Many DIY projects at home demand at least a small dose of physical exercise, which can add up to a positive net gain in heart and lung health, hand-eye coordination, and fine motor skill maintenance, according to YEG Fitness. The feeling of accomplishment that comes with a successfully completed home improvement project is also second to none (via American Family Insurance).
Physical exertion around the home is a positive force
Physical activity is great for the body and mind. This is perhaps a great place to begin when speaking on the multifaceted benefits of DIY work. DIYers enjoy a natural workout routine that doesn't have to be scheduled or adhered to religiously, in the same way running or lifting weights might. Instead, working with your hands to accomplish tasks around the house can provide a great natural workout that benefits the physicality of your personal wellness as a natural consequence rather than a targeted result.
In the process of painting the walls, installing new sod in the front yard, or fixing a leaky faucet in the bathroom, you will accomplish a necessary task around the house. Still, you also have to leverage your muscle dexterity and strength to perform the tasks involved in each DIY project. This gives your body a natural workout that can really boost your physical wellness alongside the mental sense of positivity and wellbeing that accompanies other forms of physical activity (as a result of endorphin release, according to WebMD).
American Family Insurance notes that working with your hands provides an empowered feeling of accomplishment. Coupled with the low-intensity workout that occurs as a natural byproduct of DIY work around the house, your physical wellness is in good hands.
Stress relief comes along with the task of virtually any DIY project
Mental health features highly in the performance of DIY projects as well. In addition to physical health benefits, working to accomplish something on your own in the home can really instill a sense of pride, happiness, and stress release. For example, building something, painting a room, or installing a new appliance are all discreet tasks that have easily identified beginning and endpoints.
Moreover, the progression through the task from either end is often fairly simple and easy to intuit. As a result, homeowners who successfully complete a DIY project in their homes are able to enjoy an immense sense of accomplishment, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant the task might appear (via Little House On The Corner).
DIY projects hit home in a way that's different from the typical to-do list or work calendar that you keep. These projects often require a concerted effort that goes beyond your traditional schedule and effort level, meaning the satisfaction and happiness that is taken from their completion rises above that of another, more common task that features in your daily routine. DIY projects are all unique in some way or another, so engaging in these types of tasks as often as possible will keep your daily habits and lifestyle filled with positivity and a great mental wellness-affirming environment.
DIY tasks can be a great reason to spend time together
Louie's ACE Home Center notes that DIY projects can be a great opportunity to bond with family members and other important people in your life. Working together to complete a DIY project is great for family unity, and the mentality of the family or partnership can really grow in these intimate moments of shared experience and real growth in the functionality and value of the home. DIY opportunities are everywhere in many properties. Bringing the people in your life that are important to you into the process of fixing or replacing aspects of the home can provide a common ground that's hard to find in such a natural way anywhere else.
Shared tasks in the DIY space can also be a great way to hand over control of situations to those that you care about. For a family going through some stressful times together, showing that you value the opinions and capabilities of loved ones while trusting in their ability to complete important aspects of the project can be a powerful launching point for collective healing and intense bonding.
The cash flow benefits can really add up
DIY projects can end up saving you a lot of money. Hiring a contractor can cost thousands of dollars, and even for some of the smaller jobs around the house, you may be looking at a sizeable bill to farm out the work to a professional.
Angi estimates that general contractors cost an average of $4,000 for most home improvement projects and that charges can be quoted in a few different formats. Many contractors will charge a sort of premium, somewhere between 10% and 20% of the overall project cost for their fee. Others may bill you per hour or day of work on the job site, including overages for additional workers. This may cost between $300 and $500 per day, plus $150 to $250 for each accompanying worker (via Angi).
Instead of hiring a professional to work on some of the project areas that you can accomplish on your own, considering the DIY route can save you a significant sum of money. This becomes even more serious when tackling multiple projects without outside assistance. The more you can achieve on your own, the greater your confidence level will grow, establishing an expanded baseline of feasible projects you can handle yourself. The effect is a snowballing of savings over time that you can use to bring in upgraded materials for later projects or simply a greater volume of savings that you can push back into your budget for other needs.
Completed projects can form a centerpiece in your home for years to come
Finally, but certainly not least important, is the relevance and staying power of the projects you engage in throughout your home. Completed DIY projects make for an immense boost in the sentimentality of your home and its contents. Working together on a DIY upgrade can bring families closer, but it also provides a lasting and impactful representation of that bonding experience that you'll see and enjoy for many years.
Installing new flooring, for instance, can give you a comfortable place to walk around and mingle with friends and with each other. By putting down the floor yourself, you can save money, share a wonderful moment together, and use the functionality of the installation for the long term. DIY projects bring a raft of benefits together under one umbrella that continues to give back in terms of value, benefit, and memory for as long as the elements remain in your home.
Truly, the blend of uniquely great reasons to engage in DIY projects on your own or with family members is a reason all on its own. Little House On The Corner notes that the feeling of admiring your own handiwork is glorious, and it's certainly true. The end result is greater than the sum of its parts, and the memory of working on a part of your home with your own two hands will shine through for many years.