What Millionaires And Successful People Do With Their Free Time
How individuals spend their free time has a significant impact on their lives. Life is about having the perfect balance between doing something productive and cutting loose. It’s not always easy. But maybe seeing what successful people do with their free time will inspire you to do more than just watch Netflix or doom scroll through social media.
In this article, we will be discussing three things.
The first topic will revolve around ways of how successful people use their free time.
Next, we will cover how this free time can be allocated as a stress reliever moment.
Lastly, we will also be focusing on the best ways on how you can find more free time in this fast-paced and busy world.
What Successful People Do With Their Free Time
All of us have the same 24 hours to spend in a day. The only thing that sets successful people apart from the rest of us is that they use their time wisely and productively. Here are some of the ways on how they make use of their free time to improve their overall well-being.
Exercise
Exercising is essential for the betterment of both your physical and mental health. Setting aside at least half an hour each day, during the weekend and after work can help revitalize your spirit, get endorphins flowing, and get your blood pumping. It is also a great strategy to reduce stress gained at home and work.
Exercising also helps you stay disciplined. This trait is valuable in all of your endeavors, especially in a demanding work environment.
Read
Reading should not stop once you have graduated from university, just ask Bill Gates. He reads an endless amount of books.
Reading is a lifelong skill that gives you a broader understanding of the world around you. The concepts you gain from here help you appreciate new cultures, philosophies, and ideas around you. You can use these things to improve both your soft and hard skills.
Network
Believe it or not, there are a lot of networking events that happen outside corporate hours. Some of the examples include cocktail hours, weekend brunches, and after-hours gatherings that involve food an drinks. Successful people are more inclined to step outside of their comfort zones just to meet new people.
Networking does not necessarily mean that you are trying to negotiate new deals or landing sales. You can simply mingle and talk to people to establish a common ground and build a group of trusted resources. From there, success will naturally follow.
Remember, the more comprehensive your network is, the more opportunities you will face down the road. They say, your net worth is typically the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with. So networking with individuals you aspire to be more like will help achieve your goals
Take Classes
Just like reading, education is not restricted to your time in undergrad and graduate studies. The most successful individuals in the world today are the ones who are continuously committed to learning every day. They want to enhance their current skills and create new skills to leverage in this ever-changing world.
There are many local colleges offering forums, gatherings, workshops, and courses, depending on your free time. You can also leveraged the digital world by finding networking opportunities or free online courses.
Spend Time With Family And Friends
Always keep in mind that your job is not everything. Putting all of your time and effort into your career is self-destruction. If you want to have a successful life, you also have to prioritize your personal relationships. Do not neglect your family and friends since they will be the ones who will have your back on both good and bad times.
Stress Reliever Activities During Your Free Time
Journaling
Writing or journaling has many benefits. This exercise is a perfect way to manage your life issues or to leave something memorable to your loved ones by writing memoirs. If you’re still not yet ready to put your life on paper, you may start writing about other people’s lives instead. You may also focus on events and causes that you are most passionate about above.
If you do not know how to begin this endeavor, read How To Keep A Journal For Beginners by Sarah Miller.
You may even turn these entries into a podcast as a way to make money. Check out the best podcasts here!
Gardening
Do you know that gardening is one of the best ways for stress to die down? Some people who are into this hobby revealed that it is one of the best times to self-reflect while communing with nature. What’s good about gardening is that you don’t need lots of space to employ this. Container gardening works well even if you are in a small and cramped space.
Painting Or Drawing
If you’re not comfortable with expressing your emotions through words, then you might be relaxed with a more visual approach. Painting or drawing is an uncomplicated hobby since you can do this wherever you go. If you are feeling down, all you have to do is put out your sketchbook and randomly draw things that will mask what you are feeling.
Cooking
Believe it or not, there is something about baking and cooking from scratch that radiates a spiritual vibe. Some say it’s the creative aspect where you mix and match and adjust along the way to make sure that it will taste right. Others mentioned that it’s also about satisfaction. It’s a nice feeling to see your creation turn out well as a manifestation of your time, effort, and love into making it.
If you’re a parent, you may also leverage on the goodies you’ve baked to make money. Here’s how!
Photography
The misconception with this stress-reliever is that you have to spend a tremendous amount of money to buy an expensive camera. But with how the digital days work right now, all you need is your smartphone. You can always upgrade later once you have ample funds. This hobby is a great way to enhance your eye for detail and creativity. It’s also relaxing to see your output posted on social media and people liking and sharing it.
Check out Zen of Postproduction: Stress-Free Photography Workflow Editing by Mark Fitzgerald to know how photography can be an answer to your stress.
Visit this article on how you can turn photography into a side hustle.
Reclaiming Your Time
A lot of people say that they don’t have enough time to engage in all of these activities. The truth is, you can have time. You’re just continually succumbing to the pressures, demands, and responsibilities that other people and situations put on you. Don’t let them dictate your days. Instead, try to reclaim your time.
Take A Time Out
The first step into reclaiming your free time is to take a step back for a while and have a moment of self-reflection. Use at least 15 minutes of your time every day to take a look at your life. This will bring you some realizations and more perspective. You may even ask the following questions to yourself to fully understand your life:
- Is what you’re doing what you have always wanted?
- What are the things that you should do to get where you wanted to be?
- What do you enjoy and not enjoy doing?
- What are the bottlenecks in your life?
- What are the things that mostly fill your day?
- Are there things and activities that you can minimize and drop to make more time?
Find Your Essentials And Time-Wasters
Finding your time-wasters is a no-brainer. All you have to do is to reflect on how your days go and list down your minute-by-minute or hour-by-hour activities to fully grasp what happens daily. Take a close at activities like emails, texting. pinterests, TV. YouTube, watching the news, etc. Determine which activities are necessary and which ones are not. Once you have established this list, the next step is to come up with ways to minimize, reduce, or eliminate these time-wasters.
It is also critical to know what your essentials are. Make a shortlist composed of 4 to 5 activities that you love to do or you must complete in that day. Make it a point to finish those activities before you start any time-waster activities.
Cut Out Meetings
Do you know that people in the corporate world waste half of their time in the office in unnecessary meetings? These meetings can be huge drains of time, focus and energy and often attendees get little value in return. Many of these meetings could be as effective over email or phone calls in half the time. Sometimes, excusing yourself from these meetings is not possible, so try to streamline them as much as possible or at least increase the value for the group.
For example, meetings can be a great time to share best practices and case studies that can make everyone more successful. The presenters can send copies of their presentations ahead of time so attendees are briefed ahead of times and come prepared with ideas and comments. Some organizations have instituted 20 minute meeting maximums. Others only have standing meetings to force individuals to be efficient as they get tired of standing up.
Learn To Say No
If you’re inclined to say yes to every single request asked of you, then you’ll never be able to allocate the proper time for yourself. To value your time, balance the pros and cons of a request that will take your attention. If the benefits outweigh the cost, then do it. You’ll find however that you attend a lot of meetings or get sucked into tasks that provide more value for others then for you. You should also value your time and protective it. Learning to say no if you feel that their requests are unnecessary for you is a very powerful approach.
Free time is essential to everyone. All you have to do is manage your everyday life and make sure that you find time for yourself and your wellness. This can be your roadmap to your success and to a stress-free life.