Free time focus

Hello and happy Tuesday, mon frers. I have never been into - and am especially not into now in an exhausting global pandemic - hustle culture. We are not here on this earth to hustle despite what capitalism would like us to believe. Hustle to me means carve out 15 minutes of relaxation in a 24 hour period and act like you barely earned it while spending the rest of the time improving your status. I'm not here for that. I've worked hard for the past few years to rest and relax even if there are still things on my To Do list - because when are there not things on that list? 

When I find myself with free time now, there are some things I'm focusing on to ensure I don't become a pod person always staring at a phone or computer like...

Reducing Stress

Stress can be a killer. It contributes to feeling overwhelmed, anxious, and unable to control your thoughts and emotions. It is safe to make a blanket statement for all people: reducing stress improves your life. 

Stress impacts on the way we think, function, and respond to others. We learn new coping skills by trying out different ways of handling stress. Managing stress better allows us to use our energy in ways that are beneficial and help us be fulfilled in personal and work lives instead of getting overwhelmed or stuck in negative thought patterns.

Relaxing

As stated above this has historically been an internal war in my mind - it's not finding the time to relax so much as it is in thinking it is the time to relax. 

We all have a lot going on. I'm sure most of us could be doing something constructive or productive every waking minute and never feel done. But that sure is a way to feel worn the hell out. Taking the time to relax helps improve your relationship with yourself,  contributes to proper stress management, sets us up for better sleep, gives us more energy, and actually contributes to better productivity and quality of production in "on" times. 

In many ways, relaxation is the opposite of overworking yourself, which can lead to burnout or exhaustion. However, for this concept to be effective, it must be done consistently and not just sporadically.

Considering opportunities to learn new skills

Improving skills and continuing to learn throughout life is a great way to ensure you don't remain stagnant. It's never too late to investigate a new interest.

There are so many opportunities to do this - have you ever looked to see what's out there for free at your local library? Mine has a knitting circle that welcomes beginners and some seminars for would-be investors. I'm considering re-activating my spanish speaking skills through a free virtual class at my library.

There are tons of paid opportunities too like online sports nutrition courses or cooking classes at places like Williams Sonoma. There are still a lot of virtual learning options out there too. Expanding horizons usually means higher happiness levels. 

Exercising

Sometimes it is easy to forget the importance of exercise, especially when you are not an I Love Exercise person and sit on your ass a lot. Hello, it's me.

Exercising is well more than weight loss or looking good, and unfortunately the world focuses on those two things instead of the fact that exercise can help you to increase confidence, relieve stress, boost your mood, reduce anxiety levels, improve memory, increase stamina, and develop stronger bones so you can lift yourself off the toilet at 75 which should be a shared goal of all of us and why I have re-started for the zillionth time in this life pushups and light arm weights. 

The thing that always tickles me about exercise is even if you do absolutely nothing right now, you could literally be doing some type of exercise in the next 1 minute without spending a dime or having any equipment. The human body continues to amaze.

Reading

Did you think I would not  work reading into this list? Reading makes all of my things I do in my spare time lists. I read daily and always have, even logging reading time most days in 2020 when it was not super pleasurable and I lacked focus. If you got thrown off your reading groove during 2020 or at any other time, like exercise you can literally start back on it this moment and it is absolutely possible to do that for $0.

Reading can improve your memory, help you learn new things, lower your stress levels, increase your IQ, on and on and on. But - Jana said something like this on twitter the other day and I've been thinking of it since - you can read just for pure enjoyment and fun. Reading is an escape, a joy, an exercise in relaxation. You don't have to learn a damn thing from the books you read. You can read the crappiest drivel out there according to critics and it's great because you like it and that's all that matters. 

If you find yourself with extra free time, what do you do with it?