Being Intentional With Your Leisure – How to Stop Wasting Your Free Time
You spend all week looking forward to the weekend. Two whole days of free time to dedicate to self-care and your passion projects.
But then the weekend arrives, and you find yourself too exhausted and unmotivated to do anything.
I recognized that I was caught in this cycle of wasting my precious free time. I wasn’t accomplishing the things I wanted to. And, I was feeling frustrated and unfulfilled.
If you relate, don’t worry! There is hope for us! In this post, I’m going to share actionable steps that you can take to stop wasting your free time and to start living the life you want to.
(Disclaimer: I am not claiming that I have overcome this battle. I still struggle to spend my free time intentionally. But, it’s getting better, and these are some tips that have helped.)
Recognize the Cycle and Commit to Breaking it
Admitting there is a problem is the first step to making positive lifestyle changes.
If you don’t take it seriously, you probably won’t change. So, recognize that you are in a negative cycle. Take a moment to reflect and acknowledge how your use of your free time makes you feel.
Use that as motivation and commit to breaking the cycle. Once you recognize the problem, you can start to get curious and find solutions.
Understand Why You Waste Your Free Time
Awareness is so important when it comes to making changes.
Analyze your patterns. And start asking why.
Why are you unmotivated?
Why aren’t you spending your free time the way you want to?
Why are you so exhausted?
This isn’t about judging yourself or assigning blame! Identifying root causes can help you start to change those habits and establish new ones.
Photo by Luz Brunetti on Unsplash
Prioritize Sleep
I know that “get plenty of sleep” is boring advice. But it is so important. When I don’t get enough sleep throughout the week, I’m too exhausted to do anything fun in my free time.
But when I prioritize sleep, I feel energized and ready to pursue my hobbies.
If you struggle to get enough sleep, check out this blog post for tips on how to get yourself to go to bed earlier:
Take Small Steps
You don’t need to change everything all at once. All-or-nothing thinking can keep us stuck in the same loop.
But small changes can make a big impact over time.
For example, if you are sleeping in too late on your days off, try to get out of bed 15 minutes earlier. This is much more achievable than trying to get up hours earlier. It gives you a starting point to build upon.
Create Accountability/Make Time-Bound Plans
Making plans is one way to get yourself up and active. The key here is to make plans you actually feel excited about. Plan things you want to do, not that you think you “should” do.
When I make plans to meet up with friends, it creates extrinsic motivation and a sense of accountability. Once I’m already up and moving, I can also fit in some personal projects.
Utilize Momentum, Not Motivation
Learning how to build momentum is much more helpful and reliable than waiting for motivation to strike. I was reminded of this by one of the @Lexie podcast episodes.
Motivation is unpredictable, so when we rely on motivation, we might not get much done. But learning how to build momentum allows us to make progress even when we don’t feel motivated.
One helpful way to build momentum is to break larger goals up into small, manageable pieces. Focusing on one small step can be easier than taking on a huge project all at once.
For me, this looks like cleaning one small section of my room or writing for short increments at a time.
Spend Time on Activities that Recharge You
Filling your free time with meaningful activities is a great way to feel more rested and restored. This might sound obvious, but many of us are actually bad at resting. If you always feel exhausted, you might be resting wrong.
Prioritize spending time on whatever it is that lights you up. That might be pursuing a creative hobby, reading, spending time with loved ones, writing a book, or something else. But whatever those activities are, they are going to make you feel a lot better than spending your free time doomscrolling. Truly.
Recognize How Good it Feels to Accomplish Something Positive
On the day I started writing this post, I didn’t get out of bed until 3 pm. I was feeling annoyed, but I managed to get myself to:
write
wash my sheets
tidy my room
sweep the floor
load the dishwasher
wipe the kitchen counter
These small actions align with my values and made me feel really good. I realized that reflecting on our successes gets our brains to associate taking action with positive feelings. This can help us get going the next time we want to accomplish something.
I’m learning that it is so important for us to know how to use our time intentionally!🥰
Life by Julia 