5 Ways to Get Ahead in Your Free Time
This story was original published on Inc.com: 5 Things the Smartest People Do After Work (No, It's Not Checking Emails)
Most professionals spend at least 40 hours a week (more or less) working towards being better and getting further in their careers. With the concept of work-life balance gaining traction, especially among Millennials entering the work force, there have to be ways to spend time away from the office while still bettering your skill set.
I have five incredibly simple cheats that help me use my free time to my advantage--without spending my weekends in the office or cranking out emails:
1. Take a splurge day.
It may seem obvious, but take an entire day and do whatever the hell makes you happy. Sometimes I use my splurge day to eat all of my favorite meals. Once, after a particularly grueling travel schedule, I used my splurge day to sleep for 30 hours. Whatever you feel like your body needs to recharge and re-energize--do that.
Consider taking it one step further, and try unplugging for the day. Resist the urge to catalogue your (hopefully epic) day on social media, or sneak a peek at your incoming emails. A wave of new ideas and inspiration begins to flow when you aren't constantly looking down.
2. Go to a museum.
Free time should give you a mental refresh. A great way to do this is to spend time looking at work that inspires, interests, or intrigues you. I find this type of work on a museum wall, and take great joy in visiting museums whenever I'm in a new city. Find your museum.
3. Write it down.
Your free time should re-energize your thoughts. An important part of taking a splurge day is to write down your thoughts and ideas.
Throughout the busy workweek, you may not have time to entertain every thought that pops into your head. Take advantage of your time away from the office and pour your ideas onto paper. The practice is incredibly beneficial to creating, evaluating, and adjusting your work.
4. Be a mentor.
Volunteering your time is a great way to better yourself, grow, and learn in your profession. When I started college at age 14 (yes, 14), I could have been intimidated. But truthfully, I was just eager to be around so many older people, who I knew had so much to offer. Mentoring a younger student or professional allows you the opportunity to share your knowledge and receive some in return.
5. Learn something new.
Learning how to code, use Photoshop, or edit video, are all substantial uses of your free time, but I'm not just referring to skills directly applicable to your career. You can benefit just as much from learning how to knit or how to play an instrument or a new sport. Though these skills may not be directly applicable in the office, the ability to commit to a new task and learn is essential to success in all facets of life.
These are just some of the ways that I like to get ahead in my free time. What are some of yours?
Talent Acquisition Specialist II - Delaware North Sports Service
6yI'm still looking for that free time but when I get some I'll definitely try these ideas. Thanks.
Strategic Transformational Projects & Programs | Data Governance | ERM | Lean - Six Sigma | Certified - DCAM, Prosci, CRM, CMQ/OE, Six Sigma Black Belt
6yGreetings I have some exciting news to share. As a full time risk manager and a patient safety advocate I feel there needs to be better apps on App Store to promote patient safety and root cause analysis. As a first step I am going to tackle the easier step sooner rather than later. By that I mean developing an app that supports CPSI's incident analysis framework / root cause analysis framework and help managers and others in conducting an effective root cause analysis visualization. The app will be developed with my own funding, and any donation that me and some of my friends can collect. The work has begun and soon I will need help from this group to pour ideas, testing the app if possible helping in promoting its adoption! In the first phase it will be restricted to conducting a root cause analysis and presenting the contributing factors visually for the senior leadership and other stakeholders. I look forward to some encouragement and words of wisdom. I am very excited about this work and as I have mentioned before, the difficult task that I would like to get to at a later date is to develop a patient safety incident app that we all can use and can share with other organizations for better learnings. That of course needs lot more funding than I can finance myself or through donations. Any ideas and support or coaching to make this dream come true is much appreciated. Stay tuned for more on this... If you wish to donate and wish to help with development and early preview of the app kindly reach out to me at jignesh.padia@gmail.com Thanks and Regards Jignesh Padia
Property Adjuster
6yBrittany Jagger
Assistant Store Manager at Goldsmiths
6yI find writing a good thing to do when not at work. Not writing a novel or anything particularly interesting. Just simply trying to improve my hand writing, almost everything is typed these days. It's just too have pen and paper.
I&M Bank Limited
6yI love the article but museums are not for me. I can get something else to substitute e.g. traveling. You did not talk about exercise. This is one sure way to maintain your body and to stay mentally invigorated all day long.