It is not unusual to find idle time as we go about our day-to-day tasks. You may find yourself stuck in traffic for hours. There are also days when you have to wait a bit longer than usual for someone you have an appointment with. Sometimes, you manage to accomplish all your tasks earlier than usual, leaving you with nothing to do for the rest of the day. These moments can be annoying, boring, or uneventful.
But since time is a limited resource, you can positively view it as bonuses in your day. While it is perfectly fine to simply enjoy these breaks and do nothing, you can further maximize your free time by doing things that can lead to self-growth and development. You can even hit two birds with one stone because many of these things are relaxing and entertaining as well. If you need ideas, read on for some suggestions on things you can do to sharpen your skills and enhance knowledge while on a break:
Listen to a podcast or watch informative videos.
Due to time and budget constraints, it is not always so easy to gain in-depth knowledge about a certain subject or industry. Luckily, there are podcast channels today that offer valuable information about any topic. As long as you have your smartphone and Wi-Fi, you can listen to these educational talks anytime and anywhere. If podcasts are not your thing, another productive way to entertain and educate yourself is by watching informative videos.
Play a brain-boosting mobile game.
You will not notice the time ticking by and also get to exercise your mind by playing some brain-boosting games. Technology made this a lot easier because you can now download intellectually-stimulating games on your mobile phones. Instead of mindlessly scrolling on your phones, you may want to try immersing yourself in games such as word quizzes, puzzle challenges, and logic problems.
Learn a foreign language.
One way that can open up great opportunities for you is gaining fluency in another language. You will broaden your horizons as you learn about other cultures and make it easier for you to reach out to people across borders. It may seem like a tough challenge but with free language learning apps available today, you can spare a few minutes of your day to learn a few foreign terms and phrases. You can also do this by watching videos with translated subtitles.
Write something.
Suddenly find yourself with nothing to do? You can take this as an opportunity to take a break from gadgets and technology. It has probably been ages since you used an actual pen and a paper so you may be surprised how refreshing it may feel to do it again. Grab a notebook and pen and start practicing your doodling or calligraphy skills. It would also be nice to make a journal entry and just express what is on your mind through writing.
“Time is gold,” is one of those sayings that you perennially hear whenever people give advice about leading a productive life. However, it is a must to keep in mind that proper time management is more than completing all the tasks in your to-do lists. It also covers how you turn the seemingly idle moments in your days into useful ones.
