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If you’ve found you’ve got quite a bit of spare time these days, you’re probably getting sick of using it to just watch Netflix and surf the internet. Sure, those are fun activities, but you can’t do them all the time. And hey, a bit of personal development never hurt anyone! So it’s time to think about new ways to spend your spare time, and maybe even get a little productivity out of those hours.
After all, why wouldn’t you want to fill your time with all kinds of fun things to do? Going on new adventures, giving back here and there - it can fill your life with all kinds of rich experiences! And if that sounds like something you want to get involved in, check out the ideas below to get you started. You can use your spare time in whatever way you like, but sometimes it can feel like you’re stagnating!
Spare time is great for working up a sweat! If you’re currently worried about a lack of activity in your life, exercise tutorials can be found completely for free through Youtube, so you don’t need a gym membership or to sign up to a paid class. And if you already know what you want to focus on, you can just tap that in and find a 20 minute workout that’ll be perfect.
Most fitness gurus who post on Youtube also do multi video workout programs; these will be arranged via playlist, so feel free to work your way through it at your own pace. You’ll never need to part with any money, and you’ve just put your spare time towards your health and wellness! Using these tutorials 3 times a week is a great target to aim for.
Meal Plan for the Week
Meal planning saves you a lot of time over the upcoming week - you don’t have to use the oven or stove at all when it’s already ready-made. If you’ve got a week’s worth of meals in the freezer, you just need to put them in a bowl in the microwave for dinner time tomorrow and the day after.
So sit down now and put some recipe ideas together, and then nip out to grab the ingredients and some tins to keep the finished product in. It’s also best to write the date of cooking on the top, to make sure you only keep your prepared dinners around for 6 months max. Most food tends to get a little frostbitten after this time period.
Start a Reading List
If you love books and getting lost in a story, this won’t be a hard one to pick up. But starting a reading list can be a great way to pass the time whilst allowing yourself to learn and pick up experience along the way.
Even a cheesy rom-com can have something to tell you! Many reading lists are already made online and can be followed along by page or by using audiobook subscriptions, if you’d prefer.
Maybe it’s time to read all the literary classics we studied in high school? Maybe you want to try some LGBT+ literature that you’ve never even heard of before? No matter what genres you like, or what type of fiction you’d love to get into, there’s a reading list out there that'll suggest some great titles and hidden gems to you.
Make a Little Extra Cash
Even if you’ve only got 15 to 20 minutes, you can use that time to make a bit of extra cash that’ll help pay for a night out (or in) with your loved ones. Many people turn to websites that offer paid surveys on a regular basis, but if you want to start your own blog or start selling ebooks, that’s also totally viable.
All you need is an internet connection and something to write about over the long term. Update your entries consistently and you’ll start gaining traction; active websites and authors go a lot further on search engines thanks to the way the algorithm trends.
But if you don’t want to write, you can even just boot up Vickers Casino and play a slots game here and there. The internet has many ways to generate a few extra pounds, and the more you do so, the better your gains will be.
Get Involved with Your Community
If you want to really put your time to good use, why not lend it to other people? Getting stuck in as part of your community is a great way to give back, and is one of the best ways to provide the kind of change you want to see first hand.
Doing an hour or two at your local soup kitchen, or running the till in a local charity shop, or simply clearing out your house to donate some items goes a long way to benefit. And you don’t need any formal qualifications to do any of these things!
You could also volunteer at charity events like local football games or museum days for families; as long as you’re out there and taking part, you’ve used your spare time very well.
Build Your Own Vegetable Garden
Building a vegetable garden takes a bit of time and effort, and you’ll need a few weeks to fully put one together, but it’s a worthy endeavour! After all, you’ll be growing your own food and be able to put together meals using your own produce - what could be more sustainable?
Head down the garden centre and get some seed packets or starter pots, prepare a space in the back garden for dedicated planting beds, and then follow directions on the packets to grow with the most success. Most of all you’ll need to pick your time right, unless you’ve got a greenhouse at your disposal.
You could also pick up a couple gardening magazines for some more in depth advice. But otherwise it’s not hard to cultivate a couple of plants, especially when there’s so much sunshine out there!
Learn to Do Something with Your Hands
This is especially good for people who spend a little too much time on the internet! If you learn to do something with your hands, you can redirect all of that energy you spend on the digital world into something more real.
It’s much easier to be proud of yourself when a finished product is sitting in hand! If you like to draw or paint, buy a sketchbook. Or perhaps you’d like to start baking cakes and perfect your icing skills? Maybe you could give wood whittling a go?
Crafty skills that require a good amount of technical knowledge help to give us a sense of self esteem, and we have real things to look at once we’re done. You don’t need an internet signal, and if the wifi ever drops, you won’t sit there bored.
Got Some Spare Time to Make Good Use of?
We all have a day to ourselves here and there, and we definitely have at least half an hour in the afternoon to put to good use! So when these free moments of time come around, use them wisely. Kick back and relax every so often, but then try out a new hobby or do some internet surveys to make some extra money. And if you’ve got an hour or two to spare, why not volunteer for a little while? It’s a great thing to add to your CV!
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