Benefits of volunteering

I know that you are busy. You can’t even make time for yourself right? So why would you even think about volunteering? It only takes time and you don’t even earn a single cent with it. But it can surely benefit you as well. Say what? 

Volunteering is spending time willingly to help someone else without being paid. In general it is in the public interest or in social interest, it is not for profit and it doesn’t replace a paid job. 

Volunteering can be informal and formal. Informal volunteering is when you help your family and friends with doing some chores, fixing repairs, doing groceries, pet sitting or babysitting or when you bring your grandmother to the store. Formal volunteering is mostly done for a non-profit organization, charity or for the community. 

You can help someone who wants to learn the language of your country, someone who is lonely or you can take care of animals. There are so many possibilities to do volunteer work. You can think of volunteering for:

• an animal welfare organization. 
• nature conservation organization. 
• a hospital. 
• a nursing home. 
• the fire brigade. 
• a non governmental organization. 
• the library. 

There are many more possibilities. If you are interested, you can check in your own municipality what they offer. You can also check online. It is important that you choose something that matches you or something that you can learn from. If you don’t like to speak in public, choose to become a volunteer who needs to give presentations about a field that you are interested in. In this way you can improve your own skills as well. 

So it is a win-win situation. You help others and you also help yourself to develop and improve. Volunteering has many benefits. Volunteering can:

• help you feel connected and be part of a community.
• help you feel better about yourself by improving your self-esteem and confidence. 
• help you to use your talents, learn new skills and create a better work-life balance. 
• help you with your career. 
• give you a sense of purpose in your life. 
• help to reduce stress, depression and loneliness. 
• bring more fun into your life. 
• help you to meet new people with the same interests as you.  
• inspire other people. 
• help you to make a difference in the world. 

So think about how you can make a few hours per week available to do volunteering.