This is part one of a two-part series on making productive use of your free time. Check back Wednesday for part two.
I’m obsessed with making productive use of my time, almost to a fault. While there are some other people out there like me who always feel like they need to make productive and efficient use of their “free” time, others don’t feel as compelled. If you are one of those people who are looking for ideas of how to make better use of your free time, this post was written for you!
Learn a new skill or improve one you already have
Photo by Travis Isaacs
One thing that many young adult twenty- and thirty-somethings desire to do is to make more money. When it comes to making more money, you have to do something of value to others. This often first requires learning a skill or getting better at one you already have. I’m still early on in my career, but I learned quickly that those who have the best technical skills are often also the most valuable employees. In reaction to this, I’ve spent a lot of my free time improving my Excel skills, which has helped me tremendously at work. It also eventually turned into side work, which has forced me to improve other skills such as Google Drive and database management.
Learning a new skill doesn’t just have to be something that will directly benefit your career. There are plenty of useful skills that you can learn that will benefit your life in one way or another. If you’re a homeowner or want to be a homeowner someday, learning about how electrical and plumbing systems work can benefit you greatly and potentially save you thousands of dollars through do-it-yourself (DIY) repairs. If you are interested in computers, learning to code or design websites can be extremely useful skills to learn. The skills you can learn – and improve – are pretty much endless.
Exercise
Photo by CherryPoint
I don’t think anyone will deny the fact that exercising is a beneficial use of time. Some people think exercising has to be expensive and time consuming, but there are many different options today that cost various amounts of money. If you live in a place with good weather year-round, you can exercise outside and avoid having to join a gym. Even if you live in a place like Minnesota where it’s cold for a significant part of the year, you can utilize a product like the Your Shape: Fitness Evolved game for the Xbox Kinect, or simply use simple workouts you find online that can be done in your home or apartment.
I recently wrote about how to get the most out of your gym membership. If you just want to stop into a gym a few times a week and do some cardio, you can significantly save money by choosing a gym that does not have a pool, group classes, daycare, etc. Thinking about what your “must haves” are can help you find a gym that’s within your budget and can help prevent you from subsidizing a service you don’t use (like child care). Exercising is a great use of your free time, and can really help improve your overall health and well-being.
Volunteer
Photo by Robin
Volunteering can be one of the most rewarding things you do in life. When it comes to volunteering, you can give your time, talent, or treasure. Many nonprofits need people to donate their time through staffing events, helping sort donations, or doing some sort of service on a regular schedule. Some organizations need specialized help – think an accountant helping a nonprofit get their financials in order. Donating your treasure, or money, to a nonprofit organization can make a bigger impact than donating your time or talents. Since nonprofits are, by definition, not focused on making a profit, they sometimes rely solely on donations from private individuals. Donating even $20 a month to an organization can provide the funds for full-time employees who can fully commit their time to the work of the organization. Of course, if you are looking to utilize your free time it will likely make more sense to donate your time and talents versus your money.
Of course, volunteering doesn’t have to be limited to helping a formal organization. For example, you could shovel your neighbors driveway after it snows or sit down and help a friend get their personal finances in order. Even providing food to someone who is homeless can make a huge impact, both in the short- and long-term. If you have free time, get creative about what you can do to bless your friends, family, and neighbors.
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If you have big goals in life, such as paying down debt, owning/renovating a house, travelling abroad, or something else, you need to utilize your free time in a way that helps you get towards that goal. Time is a precious commodity; make sure you don’t waste it.
What do you do to make productive use of your time?
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I am not very productive with my time but I try to read, exercise, and find new activities, lately running and cooking new things from scratch.
RFIndependence Sounds pretty productive to me!
Honestly, I’m trying to find ways to be a little less productive with my time:) I’m busy working all the time, so I’m trying to find more ways to relax.
GregatClubThrifty After reading Holly’s post today, it sounds like you do need to limit the amount of work you guys are doing. Having Holly home and working full-time on your various businesses and side work should help, I would imagine.
I’m a bit the same way, I always try to find the best use of my time and can’t handle wasting even a minute. The down side is that I always seem to be super busy.
MonsterPiggyBank I always seem super busy as well, but at this point in my life I’ve accepted the fact that I really do like it that way. If I was bringing in $5k/week in passive income…then maybe I’d be looking for ways to engage in more relaxation-related activities ;)
I am like Greg, I am trying to find additional ways to relax. We’re pretty busy as it is and am trying to teach myself that I do not always have to be productive. Of course, that is usually easier said than done being a type A personality. ;)
FrugalRules I hear you and I have the same problem where I need to remind myself that I don’t always have to be going 100% and packing every minute with productive activities. At the same time, as we try to pay down debt and get in a better financial situation (and build this website up) I feel like I need to keep going hard every day, night, and weekend. It’s a tough balance.
In our new home, one of the things that we are planning on doing is setting up a workout room in the basement with a TV and Tablet PC and whatnot.. That way, even if there is a show we want to watch, we can be productive while we watch it!!
Great tips, DC!
seedebtrun In our “forever” house we would love to have a workout room set up : ) I love that our gym has a bunch of televisions set up so that you can stay entertained while working out.
I think I have a decent balance (for myself) on being productive vs. relaxing. I do a few of the things you mentioned above to stay productive (excercising and learning new skills), but I also spend quite a bit of time relaxing (watching TV or movies). Another productive hobby of mine is keeping the house and yard in good condition. This will help us get the most when we go to sell.
CommonCentsWealth I watch TV and movies all the time, but usually blog during them.
Those are very important tips DC ! Pre Internet days I did some volunteer work at a children’s cottage and also attended a lot of night school classes. Sometimes I took cooking classes or attended courses at the Running Room. Other times I took classes that related to my day job. These days I spend most of my time online pursuing interests, which probably isn’t a very balanced life :-)
Love the learn a new skill tip. I was recently turned on to a new site called code.org where you can learn to code for free in your spare time. Totally into it now. Great way to learn a new skill that is in high demand right now.
KyleJames1 Just checked out code.org, totally awesome site!
All good ideas. Excel is one of those skills that comes in handy almost no matter what you do. Using free time for self-improvement is not something I used to do much of, but have been focusing on much more in the past few years. Exercise and blogging are my newest frontiers. I do like the comments above about balancing work and relaxation though. It can be difficult, but really important to find a balance.
momanddadmoney Balance is overrated…just kidding, I think balance is important, especially if you have a family.
I have only recently developed the desire to spend my free time doing things that actually matter. I guess that is because before I spent my “free time” doing homework. :) Right now i’m trying the “learn a new skill” track by attempting to learn wood working.
ayoungpro Sounds like a fun thing to learn! I would like to learn more about plumbing and electrical systems. On the surface it doesn’t seem fun, but I think the knowledge holds a lot of value.
DC @ Young Adult Money I think plumbing and electrical would be great to learn. I’m all about picking up “landlording” type skills, seeing as I want to be a landlord mogul. :)
I fall into the category of putting too much on my plate. :) I’d love a bit more free time, but it seems like I’m running from one thing to another. We go to extremes – we either have a ton of free time on our hands and need to take your advice or we have too much stuff on our plates (sometimes unnecessary stuff). We need to strike a balance because a lot of the things you listed are the FUN stuff we want to do. :).
TheHeavyPurse I feel as though I’m always busy as well. Today I actually cut my workout out of my schedule to help me get more sleep : ) Sometimes you have to set your priorities.
I’m also obsessed with making good use of my free time. I love running and volunteering to make proper use of my time. But more recently I’ve been blogging. It’s another great way to improve a skill, and maybe earn a little money.
Right now, I’m trying to get in shape for my 4th of July triathlon, so that’s taking much of my free time. I also need to get some yard work done, but am having a hard time getting motivated for that. Free time is a very valuable commodity!
I also over schedule my life as my work time becomes more hectic I find my scheduling more free time to do things like read a book and relax. If you schedule it then you are more likely to follow through. This is especially true of working out :)
What’s free time? Just kidding. I try to make the best use of my free time. For me that usually means doing some freelance writing or working on my blog because those are my top priorities right now. I work at a non-profit, so I feel like I “volunteer” everyday.
StudentDebtSurvivor I second what Student Debt Survivor says about volunteering! Because I work in the helping profession, I tend to gravitate towards hobbies that don’t involve a lot of eye contact or meaningful conversation. ;-) Volunteering is a good use of time though!
I also tend to do the same thing you mentioned YAM, I go into overdrive with pretty much everything in my life and filling up my free time with “productive” things is something of a religion for me.
Now I’m trying to learn how to slow down, I am doing more scheduling in of “downtime” (like LillaDragon mentions below) like reading a book or walking my dog as I go along, So far, it’s been a big help.
Great article!
Lindsey
LindseyatCents StudentDebtSurvivor I seriously need to make time for downtime and make sure I don’t try to do anything productive during that time.