9 ways to spend your free time, especially during this pandemic, stop wasting your seconds
- Cook. Open up a youtube video or online recipe, go to the kitchen and gather your weapons and ammos, and prepare for war. Just warn your cooking experts at home that it is going to get dirty, and promise them you will clear up your mess, after enjoying an awesome, scrumptious dinner (hopefully :P) and your family or friends will be most certainly be proud of you. Even if it turns out horrendous, they will still love you even more for your attempt!
- Read a book on your line of field. This can be a biography of the top engineer or entrepreneur, or a non fiction books on art or drama or sharpening your photography skills. No matter what your career line is, or your side interest/ passion is, there is a book for you out there. And no excuses of the need to go to the library, with millions of books inside one one computer. Kindle, audible, scribd, the list goes on. Pick up a book and spend your time sharpening your skills.
- Workout. You say you have no time to squeeze in a 30minute cardiology workout or yoga routine. Well here you go, there is a reason why you are reading this blog, drop down and give me 20, or go onto read my fitness lifestyle post __
- Journal. Grab a notebook, a pen, and sit down quietly in your room. Jot down your thoughts and emotions, your ideas and reflections. Whatever is floating around in your mind, concretize it and trap it on paper. An idea will remain a fiction in your mind, the first step to making it a reality is writing it down onto a paper. Same goes for your thoughts and reflections for that day. Once you pen it down, it is going to be easier to make sense of it, learn from it, and let go of unwanted thoughts and emotions that are not serving you.
- Declutter. That's right folks, a clean working environment and house translates to a clearer mind with more clarity. If your bed and your table looks like a mess, chances are you are more forgetful, more anxious, less focused, or you are a mad scientist. Either one. Check out Marie Kondo's Japanese way of decluttering, highly recommended TED talk and book.
- Pick up a new skill.
You do not need to pay if you don’t want to, but if you are serious about it and can afford it, go sign up for an online course (plenty of platforms like skillshare and coursera, if you have not already known because they do plenty of advertising haha). BUT, you do not need to pay. Open up youtube, and go watch a tutorial video on just about anything, from photography to drawing to programming and presentation skills. Reflect a moment on what you are weak at, and what skill you will need to aquire to progress in your line of profession. Once you learn it, remember to follow it up with the action and practice ok!
- Go and configure your phone to become a productivity machine.
Who doesn’t love productivity right? And many of us have smartphones, apple or samsung or other brands, which possess way more power than we think it does. So many, countless hidden features to boost your productivity, and most of us use it for texting, calling and watching mindless videos. Download productivity apps like "tasks", link your phone and computer calendar, set up shortcut apps like "one hand operation+" in Samsung. Just go and explore your expensive power machine that resides in your pocket when you have free time.
- Reestablish connection with an old friend. Childhood friends, college friends, friends you met in an elective or conference or a holiday trip and just got their instagram or facebook. It doesn’t matter, it might have been a few years, but it is time to say hello. Especially in these times of uncertainty, check on them to make sure they are safe and healthy. You will get an instant shot of feel good hormones when you re-establish that friendship and start up that conversation.
- Family. This goes out to the younger generation in general. Have free time and complaining that you feel bored? Many of us are living with several other human beings under the same roof. How often do we spend genuine time with our family, chatting about life, sharing jokes and just showing love for each other. Many a times, we are locked in our rooms, suffering boredom in silence. Go out, maybe open up some old photos from your previous vacations, blow them up on your TV and travel down memory lane with your family as you enjoy the evening together.
