How to spend free time. Leisure time to good use

Recently, psychologists have noted an increased amount of stress in the population. No wonder, because in cities there is a high pace of life, and, trying to be in time everywhere, a person receives a rather strong overvoltage. Therefore, it is important for everyone to be able and know how to organize their time with maximum benefit for themselves. As a result, this will allow not only to keep up with everything, but also to find opportunities for personal affairs and recreation. Such a skill is needed not only for adults, but also for children. After all, it is from an early age that it is most effective to learn something.

Why do you need the ability to organize time?

Some people find it strange to learn how to manage their time. Someone considers this the lot of bores. Most likely, everyone is familiar with this type of personality, which is everywhere and always late? It is unlikely that he can cause pleasant sensations. But competent planning not only saves you from being late, but also allows you not to live with the feeling of "again the day was wasted." So, the advantages of organizing time:

There will be a constant rush.
The distraction goes away.
There is time for hobbies and meetings with friends.
There is no feeling that the days are "wasted".
Creation of working days and holidays.
No processing.

As you can see, obviously, knowing how to organize time effectively is useful for every adult. The main benefit is that in this way a person is saved from nervous overstrain, excitement and subsequent stress. In other words, wisely allocating time, you can maintain health.

Ways to organize time

For a long time of existence, there were many ways to organize your time. There is no single correct type, since you need to choose them based on the individual characteristics of the psyche. For example, each category has its own time management principles. It is clear that it is easier to organize the time of a student than the time of an employee in a significant position.

Fundamentals for planning

First of all, buy yourself a diary. What it will be - you decide. Some people prefer a date-lined notepad, others prefer weekly division, and still others need blank sheets. In any case, you will need something where you will record your schedule. Do not try to find the most expensive or cheapest option. Choose what you like. The main thing is that you feel comfortable using it.

Option for advanced - electronic diaries. There are many different kinds of programs that you can customize to your taste. Also, most of them have synchronization with a smartphone or tablet.

The key point: the diary should always be kept in front of your eyes and promptly make changes to it.

Before starting work

If you have not tried to organize your time before, then you will have to go through many difficulties. Therefore, immediately remember the phrase "The best is the enemy of the good" and try not to worry. When a person learns something, then not everything turns out well at once, and this is a normal phenomenon.

You should always strive for the ideal, but not everything will turn out right along the way, and this is normal, since it is not so easy to organize your time without knowing how to do it. So be persistent.

Decide on a life concept

In any business, it is important to be aware of your goals. To do this, in time management (this is the name of the branch of science on how to organize your time), it is customary to distinguish three types of goals. These are long-term goals, medium-term goals and short-term goals. In general, the only difference is at what stage you decide to implement them.

Therefore, an important rule is to write down your goals. Be sure to do it on paper. Only then can you complete them. Why is this needed? When you write down a goal, you accept it and materialize it. When you see a list of goals, then you see your business plan. This is how you separate the wheat from the chaff, the secondary from the main. After all, before deciding how best to organize your time, you need to decide why you need it.

Set clear deadlines for achieving goals. Why is this needed? Blurred deadlines - blurry goals, resulting in an impossible achievement. And by clearly limiting yourself to a time frame, you take on certain obligations.

The Trick to Plan Your Goals

For those who are just learning how to organize their time, it is difficult to separate significant goals from secondary ones. This is especially difficult in terms of long-term goals. Perform a simple exercise: take blank sheets of paper and write down absolutely all desires, from simple to incredible. Anything and everything that comes to mind. Then put the lists aside and come back to them after a couple of days. Then write down only what is meaningful to you. This is how you get your list of long-term goals.

Feature of medium-term goals

You need to have a three or five year plan before your eyes. In other words, something global. You need to divide it into a large number of small goals broken down into monthly blocks. These are small steps towards your big achievements. It is important to take into account such areas as health, recreation, sports, education, entertainment.

Always keep the resulting list in front of your eyes, as over time you can make adjustments to it.

How to organize your time correctly?

Having bought a diary - get into the habit of writing in it daily. Get in the habit of planning your day the night before. This approach will save you several hours. What are the benefits of this approach?

The order in which things are done.
Drawing up a route of movement.
In a dream, the subconscious mind absorbs information better.
A daily plan and long-term goals allow you to rank things.
Additional motivation.
Visibility of active and completed goals.

In other words, planning every day is a useful thing. It also allows you to correctly. This will allow you to immediately mark ineffective cases.

Consider your biological cycles. For each person there are individual periods of activity and its decline. Therefore, it is logical to plan your affairs precisely with them in mind. For example, labor-intensive tasks with a high concentration of attention should be carried out during the period of activity. This will allow you to work effectively.

Be sure to categorize all goals. This makes it easier for you to isolate microgoals within them and execute. For example, what do you do most of the day? Let's say it's work, home, personal care, free time, and sleep. Already in these categories, form a list of goals.

Ask for help? - Yes!

It seems strange to many people to shift their affairs to others. Actually it needs to be done. As much as you would like, your time and your personal opportunities are limited, so feel free to delegate part of the responsibilities. Decide on goals and objectives, find those who can do it, and delegate them. Discuss milestones and due dates. Do not forget to reward the performers at the end of the case.

How to organize the time of the child and teach him this?

Modern parents note: children have become inactive. Give them free rein, they will sit at the computer all day long. In fact, today you can meet two diametrically different concepts of behavior: to completely score on children, not to let them breathe from the school and the section. In this case, it is important to maintain a golden mean.

How to organize a student's time so that he has enough time for study and hobbies, sections, circles, etc.? Teach him from elementary school to plan a day. Discuss with your child what he might be doing. For example, school, lunch, coming home, relaxing, preparing homework, helping around the house, and personal time. Do not put pressure on him, only help with leading questions. Help your child follow the action plan at first. Over time, he will be completely independent in this regard.

Paradoxically, those children whose day is most occupied with school and circles are the best at managing their time. The fact is that they know how much they need to do, and therefore they try. At first, you need to clearly control the child’s trips there or there, but over time, this need will disappear.

How to organize your child's free time? - Remember that parents are the best example for children. Therefore, if you know how to plan time, manage it and make effective lists of goals, then the child will easily adopt this system from you.

In any case, remember that learning effective time management takes a lot of time, as it should become your habit. And it takes a long time to form a habit. Don't be discouraged if you can't do something or you forget to write something in, everything comes with experience.

Another useful trick is to learn to introspect. So you can determine which cases are ineffective for the day, and which ones are effective.

Time is a precious treasure, but many people forget about it and waste it while watching TV or playing computer games. But life is much more than news or TV shows. Life is a wonderful opportunity to find yourself in this world and realize your abilities. And also make yourself happy. You need to be responsible for yourself and learn To use time wisely.

What to do for the benefit of yourself and others

1. Favorite thing

The most important thing for which each of us came into this world is to fulfill our destiny. That is, find yourself in this life, find your favorite thing and do it.

2.Teaching

All people should constantly learn something new or improve their previous knowledge. And you can do it both independently and with the help of special courses. And for some it would be nice to get a first or second higher education. It all depends on what your life goals are.

3.Development

Engaging in self-development and personal growth is also important, because our life largely depends on who we are and what we think.

4. Creation

Creativity is one way make good use of your time. Firstly, with its help, you can get rid of negative energies. Secondly, get positive emotions. Third, make money.

5.Sports

Everyone knows that physical activity is very useful, but few people apply this knowledge in reality. And in vain. Such people lose a lot. I hope that you will not find thousands of excuses for playing sports. And follow the people leading a healthy lifestyle. The main thing is to choose workouts to your liking and for health reasons.

6.Reading

7. Charity and good deeds.

Charity is a wonderful way to spend time for the benefit of others. Moreover, it is not necessary to provide financial assistance. You can give another person your attention and support.

8. Knowledge of the world

Our world is so rich and diverse. So many beautiful and interesting things you can learn and get a lot of positive impressions.

9. Positive rest and loving communication

Is the organization, that is, the search for resources and people who contribute to our development.

There are three key life resources:

time;
energy;
money.

In this article, we will talk about time, because it is very difficult to use this resource effectively, but each of us should be able to do it.

What do you want?

I want to kill time.

Time does not like being killed.
Alice in Wonderland Lewis Carroll

I am sure you have heard such phrases: “I don’t have time for this” or “I hardly have time to work, what is there ...”. Of all the resources, only time is absolutely irreplaceable.

Philosopher B. Fuller said: “I have lived 70 years. This is 600 thousand hours. Of these, 200 thousand I slept, 100 thousand went to eat, drink, restore my health, 200 thousand hours I studied and earned a living. Of the remaining - 60 thousand hours I spent on the road. The rest - the time that I could freely dispose of - was only about 40 thousand hours, or about an hour and a half a day.

The main question is: how to spend this time with benefit?

There are dozens of good books on time management. I will share just a few principles that will help you better manage this resource.

The control

Don't be fooled by your calendar. There are as many days in a year as you can use. So, in the year of one person there are only seven days, in the year of another - 365.
Charles Richards, American pentathlete

Control your time. In order to have 24 hours in your day, and not two, three or five, you must clearly understand what you spend them on.

There are people who say in the evening: “Well, another day has flown by unnoticed.” And there are those who spend this evening with benefit, for example, reading books, just because it happened.

Get a diary, use notes, put crosses on your hand. You realize the value of time only when you begin to notice it. Don't let your time fly by, catch it and make it work for you.

Victim

Don't say you don't have time. You have exactly the same amount of time as Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, Pasteur, Helen Keller, Albert Einstein had.
Jackson Brown

I really like this aphorism. Few realize that we all have the same number of hours in a day. We see people who run in the morning or manage to do overtime work, and we ask ourselves: how do they do it?

It's very simple: these people made certain sacrifices. You must understand that the goal of developing a skill in yourself or achieving high results in something must inevitably crowd out other things from your schedule.

There are students who sit on their smartphones during lectures, and there are those who listen carefully to the teacher. There are those who sleep at seven in the morning and those who meditate. There are those whose Friday night ends with a party in the club, and those who are working on a new project at this time.

Don't fool yourself. In fact, the phrase "I will start learning English" sounds like "I will start learning English instead of spending time at the computer."

Always immediately indicate what you will have to give up in order to achieve the intended results. And keep reminding yourself that it's worth it.

Discipline

People don't change overnight.
"Cruel Intentions"

You have an inspiring goal, a plan in place, and you're starting to follow your new schedule. And then a day, two, three passes, but something is definitely not right. You ask yourself: “Well, where is the result? Why haven't I become a millionaire yet?

The source of motivation is exhausted. But it will give you something more - constancy in working on yourself.

Our motivation is a manual generator. We receive its charge and begin to frantically turn the handle, generating energy for change. We watched an inspiring movie, went to a training session, read a book, but a day or two passes, and we do less and less until we say to ourselves: “That's it, I give up.”

Discipline is the engine. You design it step by step, improve it, increase its power. If you turned it on once, it will not slow down. Monitor its work and make adjustments. Yes, it is also not eternal, but its charge will last you for a long time.

Build discipline with a little effort every day. Constantly work on yourself, develop new habits, abandon old ones. Most importantly, never stop following your plan. If it gets too hard, just tell yourself: "You can give up, but only tomorrow, but today keep working." And so every day.

This is not a psychological deception, it is an acceptance of the fact that it is necessary to change at the present moment and carry it out with maximum benefit.

What to do?

Get a diary, download a calendar app, buy a book on time management. Calculate how much time you have left to work on yourself.
Before, make a list of what you have to sacrifice for her. Answer for yourself what is more important for you, and only after that start working.
Learn discipline. Complete your plan for today and keep repeating it until it becomes part of your routine. Remember: habit builds character.

If you have your own ways to improve time management, please email me. [email protected] or VK.

Hearing the phrase “rest time”, many automatically think that it is time to sit back and do nothing. Yes, it is perfectly normal to relax at your leisure, but only sometimes. Leisure time also provides an excellent opportunity to finish unfinished business or improve yourself personally or professionally. Spend your leisure time productively - engage in self-development, communicate on social networks and improve your health.

Steps

Engage in self-development

Review your goals and set new ones. Use free time as a period for reflection. Remember the goals you have set, decide if you are making progress towards them, and determine if you need to amend them or better define new targets.
- For example, if last month you set yourself the goal of “saving $10,000,” check your savings to see how well you did at that goal. If everything goes as planned, move on to the next goal. However, if you are behind schedule, it may be worth lowering the bar (say, to “5000 rubles”), or come up with a strategy that will help you stay on schedule (for example, find a part-time job).
Decide what you would like to study. Time off from work, school, or household chores can be spent productively as a chance to learn something new. New skills can help you advance your career or simply test your creativity.
- Make a list of a few new skills you would like to master. It can include activities such as learning a new language, deepening computer knowledge or learning to ride horses.
- For balance in your life, choose a few skills related to personal or professional development, as well as a couple of activities that you want to do purely out of curiosity.
Optimize your to-do list. Perhaps your to-do list is full of overwhelming tasks that you struggle to complete every day. Such tasks are frustrating and rarely completed, and if they are completed, it is only at the very last minute. Get things in order, organize and get them done.
- Write down the most important tasks for the next week on paper. Then determine whether you can complete the task all at once or in stages. Instead of “finish a story essay,” break the task down into several steps, such as “find history sources,” “make a plan,” and “create a draft.”
- It is against the one-step items that you are more likely to check the box at the end of the day.
Earn extra money. If you need additional funds, you can spend your time away from work or school doing part-time work or choosing a creative way to get money. Find a second job that you can do in the evenings or on weekends. Monetize your passion for jewelry making by setting up a shop on Etsy (or similar sites). Sell old books or clothes stored in the attic or closet.

Make Social Connections
1. Expand your professional contact base. In addition to the 9 to 5 schedule, there are a number of networking events you can attend. Saturday breakfast or evening cocktail parties can be a great backdrop for promoting a new idea or exchanging business cards.
  - Look for similar events in your area, or test the waters at work or at a union for post-work events.
2. Invite friends or relatives over. Having a strong support group will make you more resilient to stress and even boost your self-esteem. If you usually pay little attention to loved ones because of school or work, use your free time to go out with friends and “feed” friendships.
  - Plan a movie night, game night, or ice cream parlor. Invite a few friends or family members you can't seem to meet and invite them to join in on the fun. Communication with loved ones is a great way to spend your free time.
3. Start social activities on a voluntary basis. Help in the local community will give you the opportunity to connect with others, do something meaningful, and even improve your resume. Think about how you can help your city and find out how you can make it happen.
  - You can help plan a social event, work at a homeless shelter, or pick up trash after the annual festival.
4. Perform random acts of kindness. If you're looking for fun ways to fill your free time, do something nice for someone else. Random acts of kindness will show others that you care, as well as give you a reason to be proud of yourself.
  
  Take care of your health
  1. Find healthy recipes you'd like to try. If you have some free time, cooking is a great way to use it. If you plan and prepare meals in advance, unhealthy and unhealthy food can be avoided. Look for cool recipes on Pinterest and make a grocery list to take to the store with you.
    - Ask a neighbor, partner or children to help you. So you can get the job done faster. Plus, it's more fun together.

If it so happens that you have free time, be it a lot or a few short breaks - 5-10 minutes, even one 5 minute one, what should you do? How to spend free time with benefit?

When the work is already finished and there are several hours of free time, or a whole weekend, they can be used as a rest, to relax, have fun, shake yourself up and breathe calmly, that this busy working day is over, so spend time with your loved one. Also, this time can be spent on self-development, outdoor activities, hobbies and much more.

Below we will try to give a list that will help you quickly choose the business that you can do in your free time.

In your free time, you can think about your goals, both long-term and short-term. If you have 10 minutes during your working day, you can think about personal and professional goals for the current day. Adjust your movement throughout the day. Set your goals for the current day or the next.

Ask yourself: Is what I'm doing now getting me closer to my "big" goals?

Reading not only allows you to spend your free time with benefit, learning something new, but also develops mental abilities, improves brain function. You can read in your free time, both fiction and professional or philosophical literature.

If you have stacks of magazine articles or need to print out good articles and reports to review later, take a short break to read or prepare to read.

For quick action: you can create a special folder where you will keep the materials you need to read. Or leave bookmarks in browsers to quickly find the material you need.

Here the principle works, the more you know, the more you can apply, and therefore earn. Self-education is the key to your development.

3. Rest and sleep

If you are very tired at work, but rest and sleep are simply necessary for physical, mental, moral and mental recovery. Be sure to sometimes use your free time for relaxation.

4. Exercise

Depending on the amount of free time, you can go in for sports. If you have several hours a day regularly - you can go to the gym, aerobics or other sports sections, even if free time is only 10-15 minutes, then you will spend it usefully if you do a few bends, a few squats, etc. d.

Remember Gorky used to say: “Work sitting, rest standing”

5. Walk

You can walk up the stairs, you can go outside, get some air, bask in the sun, “run away” from people if you constantly work with them, or “find” people if you rarely contact them.

If there is a park nearby, you can “communicate with nature” a little and calm down among the trees.

Again, if there is a lot of free time, that is, there is an opportunity to thoroughly meditate, or sign up for courses, if free time is limited, then for meditation you do not need to carry a yoga mat with you and lay it out in the office. Just sitting at the table, focus on your breathing and try not to think about anything. Stop the flow of thoughts, it is very helpful. Meditation has been scientifically proven to be very beneficial for the body and mind.

7. Reflect

In minutes or hours of free time, you can just think, sometimes it is important and will allow you to spend your free time usefully. You can think about your questions and goals, as well as about working moments. If you do not want to think about the routine, try to think about philosophical topics, about the nature of the universe.

8. Clean out your inbox

Do you have 5-10 minutes before the meeting? Use these 5 minutes to clean your mailbox of various junk. This applies to both physical and electronic mailboxes.

Naturally, if you have a lot of letters in your mailbox, you will have to work quickly. Use various criteria and send mail to the trash in batches. The information is already outdated, it was not without spam, so feel free to send it "to the firebox". Leave only the important ones and those that are still relevant.

We continue the topic about the mailbox. Did you get rid of the letters? It's time to unsubscribe from various and useless mailing lists so that they don't litter your inbox.

Leave only those that you need right now. If you think that the rest will be needed soon, we delete it anyway. When needed, then subscribe again.

In addition, for some reason, an empty box - causes a very pleasant feeling that resembles freedom.

10. Making phone calls

If you have a list of phone calls to make, keep it handy. You may have a few free minutes when you go somewhere, eat or just sit at the table, during which you can make a few calls from the list, thereby spending your free time to good use.

11. Extra income

Keep a list of small tasks handy that you can partially or completely complete in your free time. Concentrate in this segment on the completion of a task and you will be able to advance in it several times faster and further. If there are a few short breaks to really work productively and earn a low amount of additional or basic money - use them.

Determine what kind of work you have that needs to be done and that will bring money, break it into small pieces so that you can complete each stage within 5-10 minutes and just do it, do it little by little.

12. Files

It sounds dark, but it is executed even darker. However, you'll have a good time if you organize your own desktop by organizing the materials so that they can be found quickly. Of course, over time, everything will return to the “ordered chaos” mode, but at least there will be top-priority materials on the table that need to be worked out in the first place. By the way - this applies to both your desktop and the desktop on your computer. So start optimizing your workflow

13. We establish the necessary contacts

If you have some free time at the workplace, pay attention to your colleagues. Yes, in just 5 minutes you can create useful connections. Sometimes a little attention to your co-workers, a question asked, a smile, a printed report, or a coffee brought in can do wonders!

14. Budget planning

Many do not think about planning their budget or leave everything to the last day.
Here, during breaks, you can fill out the appropriate statements, plan the movement of your money, draw up a financial budget for the next month.

15. Brainstorming

For example, we make a list of articles or new projects that we would like to launch. You can brainstorm what to give your loved one, etc.

The topics for the assault can be different, but very useful, both for your personal life and for your work, this is a great option for how to spend your free time to good use.

16. Make the necessary preparations

For example, make a list of necessary phone calls or to whom you need to send letters, make notes of what needs to be done to complete a particular task. As they say, everything is in your hands.

17. Arrive early for a meeting

If you have 5 minutes to spare - come to the meeting earlier. Of course, you can feel like a blockhead who came and sits alone. But people respect those who arrive a little earlier, they are satisfied with those who arrive on time, and they hate those who are late. Above the reasons, think for yourself.

18. Listen to music

Listening to your favorite music can relieve stress, stimulate new achievements, cheer you up, and just help you relax!

19. Spend time with friends

20. Take care of yourself!

If the time is right, take care of yourself! Take a hot bath, make a face mask, etc. This will definitely cheer you up and allow you to spend time usefully.

21. Cook a delicious meal

If you love to cook, why not cook something delicious? You can experiment, cook something that has never been cooked. This will help you, they will help you spend your free time for the benefit of yourself and your household.

22. Clean up

Cleaning your home is always a good thing. As they say, cleanliness is the key to health. If you cleaned not so long ago, you can still dust and dust the floors so that there is a feeling of freshness.

Perhaps you have long wanted to do a rearrangement, and if you have a few free hours, then it's time to do it.

In principle, there are many useful things to do, and the list of these things will still depend on you and your decisions.

Many simply, for the sake of interest, want to know what to do in their free time. We hope that you will take advantage of several, but at least one of the activities from the list or be able to advise another person on how to spend their free time usefully.