Poland's Iga Swiatek, who shot to fame by winning the 2020 French Open title as a 19-year-old, is the latest WTA Tour star to feature in a BBC Sport column.

Even though I'm moving around the world all the time and switching time-zones, it can be easy for me to get bored.

And if I am going to get bored then I won't be as passionate on court - which is what me and my team want to avoid.

Clearly, practising and preparing properly for a Grand Slam are the priorities but we also understand - and plan - that I have the time to do something cool every few days.

Working towards a strong work-life balance, and taking care of my well-being off court, is so important to me.

I tend to get really stressed and sometimes this stress may mean I'm not enjoying the life on tour. And this life is great!

We are travelling, visiting really cool places but, in Covid times when we couldn't leave the hotel, it wasn't that cool.

Now that we are able to go out more at tournaments, like we can in Melbourne this year, is it easier to enjoy it.

This year, I have tried to change my attitudes towards tournaments and enjoy things outside of them even more than before.

For example, when I lost to Ash Barty in the Adelaide semi-finals recently, of course I was upset and angry. But it took me less time to get over it.

That's because I'm trying to come up with that kind of stuff to take a mental break during tournaments.

Every day I went out to the Adelaide Botanical Gardens, which was a different - and warmer - way to see nature after spending the previous month in the cold of Europe.

Going to St Kilda Beach - one of Melbourne's most famous tourist attractions - is helping me here. I've been twice already this week.

It is also important to choose the right hours so I don't get overheated but in this Melbourne summer that can be impossible to avoid!

Even though we are allowed out and about in Melbourne, I understand there are rising cases here and it is important to stay safe. We're also trying to avoid much contact with other people because of the Covid situation.

It is the summer holidays here so there were a lot of people visiting the beach so we had to find a calmer place which was less crowded.

I love the beach because I like to be around water. I'm a fan of stand-up paddle and I did that two years ago in Melbourne, but it is quite a physical activity which requires a lot of balance. So it can be tiring and I need to preserve energy.

I really want to learn to surf too. But you also have to be careful with that from a physical point of view too. I have no idea when I will find the time to do that, perhaps in the off-season.

Melbourne is probably in the top three of my favourite cities, but I know if I wasn't playing here then I probably wouldn't come because it is too far from home.

So I want to make the most of being here and seeing things, but I know it is a delicate balance between work and rest.

One place I definitely need to go to is AC/DC Lane. You may know I am a big fan of AC/DC - Thunderstruck is my favourite song - but I've never been to this street. I didn't know about that until just recently!

That's definitely going on my list of things to-do here.

I have been before to the National Gallery of Victoria - one of the city's biggest art museums here - and did a virtual reality experience, that was pretty cool. But I think my brain would get confused if I did that during the tournament!

I'm also massively into coffee - and Melbourne has one of the best coffee scenes in the world. I don't drink a lot because I'm not supposed to and I'd have trouble sleeping but a coffee is an important part of my day.

It is interesting to see how different cities do their coffee differently. Here, the flat whites are amazing. They also have great brunches here in Melbourne, things like avocado on toast, but I usually eat before practice in the early hours so I don't always choose brunches.

Seafood is one of my favourite foods and the salmon they make on site at Melbourne Park is the best salmon I have ever eaten. That's quite weird because the food at tournaments is great but not usually that good!

My new coach Tomasz Wiktorowski likes steak and has recommended a good restaurant. Maybe after I've won some more matches we can go and celebrate there.

So there are a lot of small things-to-do which I want to enjoy in Melbourne and in other cities too when the WTA Tour continues after here.

I think doing these little fun activities will help me stay mentally refreshed and recover quicker from tough moments.

Being less upset when I lose a match or play a bad practice should mean I will have more energy towards the end of a long season.

Iga Swiatek was talking to BBC Sport's Jonathan Jurejko at Melbourne Park.