Picking Up New Skills
Take an adult-education or community college class. Use your free time as an opportunity to pick up knowledge that has no direct bearing on your job or career advancement. Immerse yourself into learning these things for the sake of learning them, without having the pressure to achieve beyond the goals you've set for yourself. For example, maybe you've always fancied yourself getting involved in archaeology, ballroom dancing, jewelry making, wilderness first aid, or hang-gliding. Look for local clubs using the Meetup app or website to connect with other people.
Take up gardening. Gardening is a great way to pass your free time and to use your hands to make food for your family and friends. Cacti are amazing plants that grow gorgeous flowers, and they're almost impossible to kill. Or you could try herbs, which are easy to grow and fun to use in cooking or in crafts. If you're already an experienced gardener, redesign your garden or change your approach to what you grow in it. Try branching out and creating a meditation garden or a Persian garden
Turn cooking into a fun activity instead of a chore. Cooking new recipes is a fun way to pass time when it's done for pleasure instead of necessity. Pull out a cookbook and try some new recipes. Or look in your fridge and cupboards, then search online for a recipe that uses those very ingredients (for example, search for "broccoli pineapple jalapeño recipes.") Spend an afternoon baking and learning how to use new techniques that you've never tried before. Once you've honed a few tasty recipes, throw a casual dinner party for people you really care about.
Learn a new language. Picking up a new language is a great way to engage your mind during your free time. It can help you understand foreign cultures and learn about different parts of the world. Pick up a copy of a language-acquisition book online or at your local library. You can also read magazines and books, or watch movies and TV in the language you’re learning to make learning the language more fun. Learning a new language will also enable you to communicate with people in your community who may not speak English.
Take up painting or drawing as a hobby. Making art is a great way to spend your free time: you can express yourself and pick up a new skill. Try out different types of painting, including acrylics, enamel, frescoes, inks, oils, water miscible oils, pastels and dry pastels, spray paint (graffiti), or watercolor. If you’re more interested in drawings, pick up a sketch pad and some charcoal. For example, art and craft is filled with ideas for possible hobby angles; within painting alone you could investigate. Visit your local art-supply store or hobby shop for supplies.
Helping Your Community
Join a church, synagogue, mosque, or temple. This is a safe way to meet interesting people and to get involved in your community, in addition to developing your spiritual beliefs. Look online to find a variety of local churches in your area. You don't necessarily have to subscribe to a set of religious beliefs in order to spend free time in a religious organization. For instance, Unitarian Universalists, while coming from Christian roots, are known for welcoming and including people of other beliefs, including agnostics, atheists, pagans, free-thinkers, secular humanists, and liberals of all types.
Dedicate your free time to volunteering at a community cleanup. Volunteering is a great way to be active in your community and build friendships. Helping out at a community clean-up will improve the environment in your neighborhood, and help you pass your free time outdoors in the fresh air. See if you can recruit additional volunteers from local churches, youth groups (including the Boy and Girl Scouts), or community nonprofit organizations.
Volunteer at a food drive. Food drives are often hosted by nonprofit organizations, charities, and public libraries. If you’d like to spend your time giving back to your community, contact the organizers of a local food drive and ask how you can get involved. You may find yourself visiting grocery stores to ask for donations, or inviting passers-by outside a church to donate food. Or if you’re not interested in helping out at a food drive, consider other ideas for volunteering. These include helping at a thrift store, fundraising for local nonprofits or working at soup kitchens. You’ll find that volunteering becomes an incredibly fulfilling experience that helps many others.
Volunteer to write for organizations online. If you live in a rural or remote location, or if you would rather engage with others online rather than in person, you can volunteer online. For example, volunteer to perform web work for nonprofit organizations or write newsletters for charities. Online volunteering can give you a sense of accomplishment and foster personal connections. For many more online (and in-person) volunteer opportunities, visit VolunteerMatch online at: https://www.volunteermatch.org/.
Building Your Career
Network for professional purposes during free time. Just because you’re off the clock doesn’t mean that you can’t advance your career or build up professional connections. Call up friends-of-friends and invite a couple of co-workers along for a late-morning brunch, or stick around late after an evening meeting and invite a couple people you don’t know very well out for a cocktail. Even if you're not keen on spending a lot of time networking, build at least a small amount of it into your week to ensure that you're connecting with others in ways that are free of the constraints of time, obligations, and work/self-imposed deadlines. Look into joining the Small Business Administration (SBA), an organization that allows you to connect with others in your field and mentor others.
Organize your planner or calendar. Between work, meetings, professional obligations, social meet-ups, and the other parts of life, it’s easy to become overwhelmed with obligations. Use 10 minutes of your free time to organize your calendar or day planner. Writing down and organizing the dates and times that you have certain obligations will reduce stress and help you keep appointments. If you don’t already have a planner, try noting your plans on your smartphone's calendar. This will help you to stay better organized and forget fewer plans.
Make friends with people in your school, office, church, or community. Don't hide yourself away during all of your free time. Reach out to others and spend time with people you care about. Schedule weekly or monthly get-togethers with friends, hang out spontaneously now and then, and catch up with family members you haven't seen for a while. This will give you a chance to share ideas, have fun, and be re-energized through your connections.
Addressing Health and Wellness
Spend time catching up on your reading. Whether you’re most interested in fiction, nonfiction, poetry, philosophy, or biography, reading will engage your mind and help your free time feel more meaningful. Reading will broaden your perspectives and improve your vocabulary. The books you read can open your mind to perspectives and cultures you may not already be familiar with. For fun reading suggestions, visit your local library or spend an hour browsing a nearby bookstore.
Spend time with a pet. If you don’t already have a pet, now might be a good time to get one. Pets require regular care, and can help you to fill your free time by playing, taking a walk, or preparing food for the animal. If you're in the market for a pet, check a local animal shelter. Dogs and cats are popular options, for good reason. They have fun personalities, are affectionate and loving, and can be left on their own for hours at a time. If you have little time to spend with pets, or are looking for a more hands-off animal, try fish.
Focus on your spirituality. Free time is the perfect time for all things spiritual because you give yourself the space to unwind, reflect, and think about the bigger picture and life's purpose. Whether or not you're religious, spiritual time is an essential part of being human, and tending to this side of yourself is one of the healthiest things you can do for yourself. After several weeks of daily prayer or prayer, you may begin to notice positive results in your life: more calmness, better concentration, and more focus. Centering prayer uses similar methods in a Christian context.
Learn to meditate. Sit quietly for 20 minutes and breathe naturally. Count your breaths up to 10, then start over again. The idea behind meditation is to have something on which to focus, so that you stay holistically present and don't drift off mentally. Meditation can calm you down and help you avoid negative thoughts and feelings. Look for apps that will offer guided or self-guided meditations.
Exercise to stay in good physical shape. Using your free time to stay physically fit is an easy and healthy way to pass an hour. Free time provides a good opportunity to keep up your fitness levels, whether it's by lifting weights in your garage or doing push-ups in your living room. If you have relatively little free time, spend 15-30 minutes exercising at home. Tailor your exercise program to fit the amount of free time you have. If you have many free hours per day, spend them working out at home or run several miles. If you’d like to get out of the house to exercise, join a local gym to lift weights and bulk up, or to run on cardio-enhancing machines. You could also run in a public park near your house or workplace. Or look into joining a local rock-climbing group.
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