A person with free time is a happy person. But the fact of free time is not so important as the ability to use it rationally. The phrase “kill time”, in my opinion, is blasphemy, because time is the most valuable and irreplaceable human resource. Therefore, I want to talk about how to usefully spend a couple of unexpected hours, maybe minutes or days.
Distant box
It’s time to get everything that has been postponed many times. Hands did not reach, there was no time, no desire, no strength. Laziness? So what to do! You need to overcome yourself and call, do a general cleaning in the apartment, change the curtains. Do one or more of the long-awaited to-do items on your list. Don’t have a list? Nothing, it’s time to compose it.
Reading
Literature has not yet had a bad influence on anyone (although, depending on what you read). In any case, the very fact of reading is a positive effect for the development of cognitive processes. You can read a fiction book, choose from recommendations on the Internet, or on the advice of friends. If you have accumulated literature that is useful for work, then it’s time to do it and improve your professionalism. Neither one nor the other is suitable? Articles on the Internet on topics that concern you: everything that has been boiling for a long time, but you were afraid to ask (perhaps from everyday psychology). Free time has great potential for broadening one’s horizons.
Self-analysis
Introspection is a very useful activity. Of course, if you do not go to the extremes of self-digging and self-flagellation. Can you say with confidence that you know yourself well? And if I say that I am sure of the opposite: you do not know yourself, no one knows himself “inside and out.” Self-diagnosis is another pastime option. On the Internet, it will not be difficult to find tests to determine temperament, character, abilities, inclinations, and so on. No Internet? You can buy a book. As a last resort, just talk to yourself, write down or think about what you like, what strengths or weaknesses you have, what you can do, and what you would like to learn.
Planning
Perhaps, after self-diagnosis, you want to work on something in yourself. Fine! There is no limit to self-development. Make a plan: what you want to achieve and how you can achieve it, what you can do for this right now. Think wider: make a plan for life, the next month, year, six months.
Leaving your comfort zone
Do you have something in mind that you have wanted for a long time, but did not dare to try? Right now. If this is not the case, then think about what activity (unusual) you can test yourself in: knitting, sewing, gardening, rock climbing, and so on. Leaving the comfort zone presupposes its expansion through the assimilation of new types of activity, the acquisition of new knowledge, abilities and skills. Maybe it’s time to start learning a foreign language or Morse code?
Sports
Depends on how much time you have. But sports, like reading, cannot do harm. Of course, this is not about insane loads. If you have 10 minutes, then this is a great time to warm up: wave your arms, stretch your shoulders, roll your head, relax your neck, walk around. If you have more time, then go for a walk, ride a bike.
You can always find work at home
The house is a very strange thing. You can endlessly only do what to dust off, organize space, repair, wash, and so on. Look around to see if your intervention is needed somewhere. Or does it make sense to start planning the place, pick up new curtains or decorative elements on the site that you have dreamed of for a long time? Psychological well-being depends on home comfort. For a long time, designers have been collaborating with psychologists and learning from them the secrets of human color perception.
New old friends
It’s time to remember those with whom you have not seen for a long time or have not even communicated. Talking on the phone, going to a movie or a cafe together will come in handy.
Eliminate tails
Do you have unfinished business? Or broken promises? How about getting rid of the burden of unfulfilled duty and responsibility? If all external factors are conducive to solving old issues, then it is necessary, neglecting laziness, fear, indecision or something else, to finish what was started long ago.
Hike, picnic
If the weather is beautiful outside, why not get out into nature? With friends, family, alone – it doesn’t matter. A picnic or a hike is a way to get pleasant emotions, improve health, expand the usual framework.
Creation
A safe bet is to get creative. Draw, sing, write poetry or make up a sequel to famous films and fairy tales, design, model, learn to play a musical instrument. Even in the kitchen, you can find a place for creativity, for example, bake a beautiful cake and try yourself in the skill of decorating it. By the way, fantasizing has a positive effect on all cognitive processes.
In turn, the modern market offers many options for kits for creativity: drawing, mosaic, burning, sewing, modeling, knitting, coloring and so on. They can be bought in a store or ordered online. Certain products are designed exclusively for an adult audience.
Surprise and celebration
The best holiday is a holiday without a reason. Why not organize a party for yourself or your significant other, friends? Or maybe to please your pet? Buy him a treat or take him to the salon.
Relaxation
How long have you been relaxing? Even if lying on the couch, then with benefit. And relaxation, auto-training will help with this. Replenish your energy reserves by mastering a couple of self-regulation techniques.
Epilogue
Not knowing what to do is a sign of personal uncertainty and, above all, not knowing oneself. Self-confident people who know what they are, although from themselves and life, do not have a similar problem – they either clearly know what they want (what they need) at this particular moment, or consciously enjoy a moment of doing nothing, considering it as a reset.
I strongly recommend to understand yourself: to find true needs and desires, as well as factors that hold down activity and independence. They relieve idleness and boredom:
- your desires and goals (not someone’s ideas from outside or from the Internet);
- overcoming fear (fear is inherent in all people, almost every undertaking is associated with it);
- concentration, goal-setting, concentration (sometimes the main goal of life or the main things are lost among the surrounding informational house and garbage).
What else, if not time and deeds, does our life consist of? And it looks according to what we give free minutes. Accordingly, the three whales named above for a productive pastime need:
- devote half an hour daily to talking with yourself in order to understand your own needs, accept yourself and hear yourself;
- develop healthy egoism and stress resistance in order to clearly see your goal and go towards it despite external and internal stimuli;
- fight fear and self-doubt.
Idleness is an unforgivable luxury in the modern world, and emptiness will not remain so for a long time. If you do not occupy the emerged emptiness with something useful and interesting for you, then something else will take it. Unfortunately, boredom and idleness are common causes of overeating, eating disorders, and alcoholism. And in general, idleness is a harbinger of personality degradation. Man develops only in the conditions of activity.
Have you read the article but still don’t know what to do? Weird. I think it is useful then to read another work – “How to Stop Laziness and Start Taking Action.”
