{"id":24,"date":"2007-05-24T21:42:58","date_gmt":"2007-05-25T04:42:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bspcn.com\/2007\/05\/24\/20-productive-ways-to-use-your-free-time\/"},"modified":"2007-05-24T23:01:37","modified_gmt":"2007-05-25T06:01:37","slug":"20-productive-ways-to-use-your-free-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/localhost\/wordpress\/2007\/05\/24\/20-productive-ways-to-use-your-free-time\/","title":{"rendered":"20 Productive Ways to Use Your Free Time"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\n  Written by <a href=\"http:\/\/www.lifehack.org\/articles\/productivity\/20-productive-ways-to-use-your-free-time.html\"  target=\"_blank\">Leo Babauta<\/a>\n<\/p>\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.lifehack.org\/wp-content\/files\/2007\/05\/20070524-write.jpg\" alt=\"20070524-write.jpg\"><\/div>\n<p>If you?ve got a big block of free time, the best way  to put that to use is to relax, have fun, decompress from a stressful  day, or spend time with a loved one. But if you?ve just got a little  chunk ? say 5 or 10 minutes ? there?s no time to do any of the fun  stuff.<\/p>\n<p><strong> Put those little chunks of time to their most productive use.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Everyone works differently, so the best use of your free time really  depends on you, your working style, and what?s on your to-do list. <strong>But  it?s handy to have a list like this in order to quickly find a way to  put that little spare time to work instantly, without any thought.<\/strong> Use the following list as a way to spark ideas for what you can do in a short amount of time.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong> Reading file<\/strong>. Clip magazine articles or print out  good articles or reports for reading later, and keep them in a folder  marked ?Reading File?. Take this wherever you go, and any time you have  a little chunk of time, you can knock off items in your Reading File.  Keep a reading file on your computer (or in your bookmarks), for quick  reading while at your desk (or on the road if you?ve got a laptop).<\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<li><strong> Clear out inbox<\/strong>. Got a meeting in 5 minutes? Use  it to get your physical or email inbox to empty. If you?ve got a lot in  your inbox, you?ll have to work quickly, and you may not get everything  done, but reducing your pile can be a big help. And having an empty  inbox is a wonderful feeling.<\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<li><strong> Phone calls<\/strong>. Keep a list of phone calls you need  to make, with phone numbers, and carry it everywhere. Whether you?re at  your desk or on the road, you can knock a few calls off your list in a  short amount of time.<\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<li><strong> Make money<\/strong>. This is my favorite productive use of  free time. I have a list of articles I need to write, and when I get  some spare minutes, I?ll knock off half an article real quick. If you  get 5-10 chunks of free time a day, you can make a decent side income.  Figure out how you can free-lance your skills, and have work lined up  that you can knock out quickly ? break it up into little chunks, so  those chunks can be done in short bursts.<\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<li> <strong>File<\/strong>. No one likes to do this. If you?re on top  of your game, you?re filing stuff immediately, so it doesn?t pile up.  But if you?ve just come off a really busy spurt, you may have a bunch  of documents or files laying around. Or maybe you have a big stack of  stuff to file. Cut into that stack with every little bit of spare time  you get, and soon you?ll be in filing Nirvana.<\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<li> <strong>Network<\/strong>. Only have 2 minutes? Shoot off a quick  email to a colleague. Even just a ?touching bases? or follow-up email  can do wonders for your working relationship. Or shoot off a quick  question, and put it on your follow-up list for later.<\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<li><strong> Clear out feeds<\/strong>. If my email inbox is empty, and I have some spare time, I like to go to my Google Reader and clear out my feed inbox.<\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<li><strong> Goal time<\/strong>. Take 10 minutes to think about your  goals, personal and professional. If you don?t have a list of goals,  start on one. If you?ve got a list of goals, review them. Write down a  list of action steps you can take over the next couple of weeks to make  these goals a reality. What action step can you do today? The more you  focus on these goals, and review them, the more likely they will come  true.<\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<li><strong> Update finances<\/strong>. Many people fall behind with  their finances, either in paying bills (they don?t have time), or  entering transactions in their financial software, or clearing their  checkbook, or reviewing their budget. Take a few minutes to update  these things. It just takes 10-15 minutes every now and then.<\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<li><strong> Brainstorm ideas<\/strong>. Another favorite of mine if I  just have 5 minutes ? I?ll break out my pocket notebook, and start a  brainstorming list for a project or article. Whatever you?ve got coming  up in your work or personal life, it can benefit from a brainstorm. And  that doesn?t take long.<\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<li><strong> Clear off desk<\/strong>. Similar to the filing tip above,  but this applies to whatever junk you?ve got cluttering up your desk.  Or on the floor around your desk. Trash stuff, file stuff, put it in  its place. A clear desk makes for a more productive you. And it?s oddly  satisfying.<\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<li> <strong>Exercise<\/strong>. Never have time to exercise? 10 minutes  is enough to get off some pushups and crunches. Do that 2-3 times a  day, and you?ve got a fit new you.<\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<li><strong> Take a walk<\/strong>. This is another form of exercise  that doesn?t take long, and you can do it anywhere ? but even more  important, it?s a good way to stretch your legs from sitting at your  desk too long, and it gets your creative juices flowing. If you?re ever  stuck for ideas, taking a walk is a good way to get unstuck.<\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<li><strong> Follow up<\/strong>. Keep a follow-up list for everything  you?re waiting on. Return calls, emails, memos ? anything that someone  owes you, put on the list. When you?ve got a spare 10 minutes, do some  follow-up calls or emails.<\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<li> <strong>Meditate<\/strong>. You don?t need a yoga mat to do this.  Just do it at your desk. Focus on your breathing. A quick 5-10 minutes  of meditation (or even a nap) can be tremendously refreshing.<\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<li> <strong>Research<\/strong>. This is a daunting task for me. So I do  it in little spurts. If I?ve only got a few minutes, I?ll do some quick  research and take some notes. Do this a few times, and I?m done!<\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<li> <strong>Outline<\/strong>. Similar to brainstorming, but more  formal. I like to do an outline of a complicated article, report or  project, and it helps speed things along when I get to the actual  writing. And it only takes a few minutes.<\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<li><strong> Get prepped<\/strong>. Outlining is one way to prep for  longer work, but there?s a lot of other ways you can prep for the next  task on your list. You may not have time to actually start on the task  right now, but when you come back from your meeting or lunch, you?ll be  all prepped and ready to go.<\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<li><strong> Be early<\/strong>. Got some spare time before a meeting?  Show up for the meeting early. Sure, you might feel like a chump  sitting there alone, but actually people respect those who show up  early. It?s better than being late (unless you?re trying to play a  power trip or something, but that?s not appreciated in many circles).<\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<li> <strong>Log<\/strong>. If you keep a log of anything, a few spare  minutes is the perfect time to update the log. Actually, the perfect  time to update the log is right after you do the activity (exercise,  eat, crank a widget), but if you didn?t have time to do it before, your  5-minute break is as good a time as any.<\/li>\n<p>\n  <\/ul>\n<p><strong>Got some productive spare-time tips of your own? Share them in the comments.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Written by Leo Babauta If you?ve got a big block of free time, the best way to put that to use is to relax, have fun, decompress from a stressful day, or spend time with a loved one. But if you?ve just got a little chunk ? say 5 or 10 minutes ? there?s no [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/localhost\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/localhost\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/localhost\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/localhost\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/localhost\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/localhost\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/localhost\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/localhost\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/localhost\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}