I know you’re probably totally scoffing at this right now and being all ‘Spare time? What the hell is free time?’. I feel you. Between work, family time, trying to stay on top of your health and very occasionally seeing friends, not many people have much free time. And when you DO get that pocket of free time you kind of just want to melt on to the couch, watch some bullshit on TV and scroll through Instagram because you know what? That’s a really enjoyable way to spend some time.
However, if you find yourself with a couple of spare hours on the weekend or of an evening and you’d like to do something productive (that doesn’t involve Instagram) but you just can’t decide what to do, here are 7 super productive ways to use your free time…
1. Clean out a drawer
Any drawer. Kitchen cutlery drawer, bedside table drawer, bathroom drawer – whatever needs attention. If you do one drawer a week, in a few months your whole house will be spick and span. Winner winner chicken dinner.
Hot tips for cleaning out drawers
- If you haven’t used a thing in over a year, you probably won’t use it. Donate anything in this category.
- If you don’t know what a key is for, it’s as good as useless. Donate anything in this category… and don’t worry about safety. If you (the owner of both the key and probably the lock), can’t figure out what the key is for, you don’t need to stress. No one else will be able to figure it out either especially if they dig the key out of a box of junk in a second-hand store.
- Throw away any expired beauty products/medications.
- Give away any beauty products you’ve tried that didn’t quite make the cut.
- Put books/magazine/pamphlets/flyers away on shelves or recycle anything you no longer need.
- Give your drawers a wipe down and dry them before re-filling them. Hot tip: vanilla essence on your cloth will make your drawers smell like cake. YOU ARE WELCOME.
2. Prepare something
Make a big pot of something delicious to have in the fridge for easy meals, start writing a Christmas present list or start putting together little piles of things you need to take on your next weekend away. I’m an enormous fan of preparation so I tend to do this one often. What’s something you can prep this weekend or evening? Even if it’s just cleaning out your handbag or chucking on some washing. Anything you can do to get ahead so that Future You is like ‘Thanks Past Me – packing my lunch last night was SUPER helpful. I love you.’ and Past You will be super flattered. I promise.
3. Start something big
If you’ve had a side project burning in your brain for a while, why not use an empty evening to make a start on it? Write that album, make a start on that book you’ve always wanted to write or start looking into going back to uni to study.
Or start a damn blog. I know people are all doom gloom and they say ‘Blogging is dead!’ and ‘It’s all about Instagram!’ and I thoroughly disagree.
You basically don’t see anything on Instagram and Facebook anymore – I find myself visiting blogs I haven’t visited in years because FB and Insta stopped showing me their stuff.
4. Do something creative
Lots of people are a bit shy about doing creative things because they’re scared they’ll be shit at it. This makes me so sad because creative activities are so soothing. Try painting, crocheting, beading, sculpting, drawing… anything that gives you pleasure. Also, don’t worry about the outcome, it’s more about the journey.
5. Read
How incredibly delicious it is to allow yourself the time to read. Go to a library, get a stack of books and spend your spare time leisurely flicking through them. What a perfectly wonderful way to use your time.
5 Rather Excellent Books To Read
5 Bloody Awesome Books To Read
9 Excellent Fiction Books To Read
6. Cross an item off your bucket list
Go skinny dipping, jump on a plane with nothing but your credit card or go and see two movies in a row. If you’ve got a bucket list item you can tick off in a day, do it now! I can’t think of any better way to spend your spare time.
7. Have a progress meeting with yourself
We’re all so busy (we’re all SO BUSY right???) that we seem to just barrel through life without stopping to make sure we’re on the right path. If you have a spare few hours, sit yourself down with a notebook and plan out some stuff. Figure out what you want and what steps you need to take to get yourself there. Think about how much time people spend planning things like parties and weddings and how little time they spend planning their life in general. Give your life the attention it deserves.
What super productive things do you like to do in your spare time? Or are you more likely to go Gilmore Girls marathon on that situation?
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