How to use your free time at home? 20 life hacks that could change your time-game!
In this blog, we are trying to bring forth a number of ways to use your time when you are bored or have a few extra hours at hand. These 20 most productive things will not only help you pass time, but also will help in your personal and professional growth.
1. Research and bookmark value-added articles
Clip them in your phone/laptop whichever is handy to you. These articles or reports will function as a repository for you. You can read them suiting your time. You can make a folder and title it as “Reading Material” and save it on your desktop; whenever you have a chunk of time, finish off a few items from your list.
2. Declutter your inbox!
Marie Kondo the hell out of your storage space. Tidying up gives an ultimate level of satisfaction and you will build up a habit to keep your space neat and clean.
3. Networking is important everywhere.
Got 5 minutes from a meeting? Shoot a text or an email and touch base with your colleague. Even a casual mail can do wonders when you were thinking about them for no reason at all.
4. Listen to productive podcasts.
The brownie point here is that you can listen to podcasts in parts and can take breaks. Book authors, B2B influencers, famous celebrities and individuals from any category share their story of accomplishments, growth and tackling real-life problems. You can definitely use these tried and trusted tricks to use as life-hacks.
5. Write down quotes from literature/ movies/ or poems
Anything which touched you. You can read them in the future for a dose of positivity or can use them as your picture captions as well! Art is always the best thing to fall back upon. You never know which line can change your thoughts or which illustration has the potential to make you feel home.
6. Explore and learn a new skill.
Polishing your relevant skills and job-related skills are okay but too common a phrase now. Learn a skill that challenges your comfort zone and brings fun in your life; You can try to rekindle your hobbies; you can be creative and learn dancing, calligraphy, baking or anything which could be your fun and go-to thing.
7. Take up some new responsibilities and look around in your office.
There must be a colleague who can use your help or an intern who can learn from your expertise. To break the monotony, you can dig in new roles and explore in your idle time. It will open new career possibilities and self-development opportunities for you.
8. Go for a walk and spend some time with nature.
Always good to introspect in the lap of nature; bonus that your legs will get toned. All those who are workaholic and sit at their desks straight for hours have a higher risk of health ailments. It is mandatory for you to move your body and take regular breaks. You can try a few exercises that you can do while you are in your workspace.
9. Follow-up on your things that you are waiting to get done.
Return calls, email replies, or anything that is waiting for your attention, make a list and get it done. You don’t have to sit separately to follow up on the things that you are waiting on.
10. Brainstorming is always one of the top productive ways for me to try in spare time.
I take out my notebook and start brainstorming any of my complex articles or projects. For example, I had to write emailers for a client that needed a particular time and had a niche; I started by jotting down whatever ideas came to my mind and it paid off at the time I needed help.
11. Pay your bills and manage finance in free time.
Many people fall back when it comes to managing their finances; try to be punctual and learn how to manage finance. Not just your electricity bills, managing finance requires you to update your transactions, review your budget or clear your checkbook.
12. Maintain a journal and write down your thoughts and ideas whenever you have spare time.
This will help you understand and introspect. Researches show that maintaining a thought journal has a positive effect on one’s mental health. Write down your emotions and feelings and you will not have to walk around with stress and anxiety.
13. Update your resume with your new achievements.
You should be prepared for the potential opportunities that are waiting to knock at your door. Updating your resume will also help you reflect on your strong and weak points and you’ll know where you need to put your time and efforts to improve in your career-related choices.
14. Evaluate the productivity hours that you spent in different sets of work.
It is always beneficial to look back. Reflecting and evaluating your working hours and habits will help you figure out your peak energy hours. Figure out your productive hours and then you know the rest of the story. Get your work done when you are at your best energy and enthusiasm.
15. Read books and online articles.
This never goes out of fashion when one wants a productive way to pass time. Reading gives you a better perspective of the society and your personal and professional growth is guaranteed with reading. Fiction or no-fiction, read up when you want to kill time. How-to articles, newsletters, and e-books are helpful in staying aware and updated of your surroundings.
16. Download and use value-adding and productive applications. Find out the top-rated apps that match your personal or professional needs and you are good to go! Stay on top of your game with minimalistic yet effective instructions.
17. Learn a new language online.
There are multiple websites and apps that specialize in language teaching programs. You are likely to have an upper hand than your monolingual peers if you are fluent in a second language. It will open new career opportunities for you as translators and et.al; if not career then your travel tours are going to get much easier when you know how to communicate to the locals! Learn a new language online today!
18. Make your grocery list in advance
So that you don’t miss out on an important ingredient when you plan on a new dish for dinner. When you get bored, this is the best thing to think about. This will help you eliminate unnecessary items from your cart and you can save a few bucks.
19. Start your blog if you are a fan of writing or creating.
It doesn’t have to be articles always, you can try out video blogs, food blogs, and travel blogs. Pick up one category and just begin. The best option is to buy a domain and host it on WordPress, WIX or Weebly.
20. Keep a log of things.
Your workout routine, your time spent on social media, diet or anything which you want to analyze at the end of the day/week can use your free time.
Although the perfect time to keep a log is right after you have finished your thing, but if you were not able to do that or skipped it for some reason, those free minutes are good as any other time.
Stay focused and stay productive! Follow Fuzia on how to manage time and reach out to us for more self-help resources.
Originally published at https://www.fuzia.com.