I'm back at my parents house for the holidays.
I know for some people, the holidays are a joyful time,
where you're surrounded by people that you love. And for other people, it's
kind of a depressing time, and you're alone in your house by yourself.
Hopefully this list is gonna help in either situation, and I think that it's going to be pretty much free,
as long as you have access to a phone and internet,
which I assume you do, since you're watching this right now
My definition of free time is time spent focusing on things other than making money.
My first suggestion would be to practice hobbies.
This would be something you enjoy that's NOT work, like making some kind of art,
drawing, practicing music.
If you don't have any hobbies that you're drawn to or that you know off the top of your head already,
maybe it's time to learn something new: learn a new skill, develop a new hobby.
What makes you curious?
What's something that you've always wanted to try?
I like thinking of it in two different categories:
there could be hobbies that are things that you've seen other people do
that impressed you:
for me, that would be learning how to drum
(and yes, you can drum without drums, just check out this guy),
learning how to cut like a chef,
and I think it's impressive when people have homemade pickled onions and
other cool ingredients in their fridge that they made themselves.
That seems like a good use of time.
Or you could do something that's just entirely entertaining and silly.
I've always wanted to learn how to juggle.
But you could also learn some TikTok dances. Or learn how to handstand.
If all of this sounds like it would take way too much energy on your part,
maybe you'd be interested in more leisurely activities.
Personally, I would do this list from start to finish, but if you just want to choose one and
do that, that works as well. Step one would be to go out in nature.
This could be swimming, biking, running, just walking...
Extra points if you're surrounded by trees!
Step two would be to take a shower or a bath after you're done in the nature,
and it wouldn't just be a normal shower or a normal bath;
you would want to do something special so it seems like an
at-home spa day.
Maybe you could look in your bathroom cabinets and see whatever you could find -
some fancy soaps or lotions, or light a cool candle -
or ask someone that you live with if they have something that you could use for an hour.
Step three would be to drink a beverage (any beverage)
and look out the window.
Could be coffee, could be tea, could be whiskey,
could be water, could be warm milk,
whatever you've got, whatever you're feeling that feels
leisurely and luxurious to you.
Step four would be writing.
This is mostly just to clear your mind, but I find
it really helpful to do what is called morning pages.
So it's filling at least three pages of
just stream-of-consciousness thoughts.
You get a notebook, you just keep writing. Do NOT make a things-to-do list,
do NOT write about work stuff that has yet to be completed,
you just want to focus on getting stuff out of your head right now.
And then move on to the fifth step, which would be reading.
I would recommend something fiction.
This is all to kind of get out of your head.
You could add a nap in there if you want.
(Extra points if you're napping in the sunshine.)
If you're more of a social butterfly and all of that sounded way to lonesome for you,
then maybe the first thing to do would be to find somebody to do stuff with.
An easy way to do this is to contact one of your friends and say,
"Hey, is there anything that I could help you with?"
It's a good use of time, it helps them clear something off their list,
makes them feel grateful for you being there, and
you get some social time in there.
When you're done helping them with whatever task it is that they needed to complete,
whether that be helping them study or fix something in their house,
maybe they'd be willing then to try out a new skill with you.
Learning to juggle with someone else there, while THEY'RE learning to juggle,
would be much more fun than trying to do it yourself.
If you're both on social media and you like to post pictures of yourself,
you could have a photoshoot day, where it's just a mutual
photoshoot going on: you take pictures of them, they take pictures of you.
You could bring some wardrobe changes. You could go to someplace that's architecturally cool, or
nature-wise is really pretty,
and just take pictures all day and then you'd have a stock
to put on your social media accounts.
If y'all are hungry, you could do a "what's in my fridge?" potluck or picnic,
where, if you share the same fridge as this person, you could both go into the fridge or the pantry
and what-have-you and try to choose a bunch of ingredients to make a 3-course meal out of.
This is a great way to also clean out your fridge and your pantry.
If you guys don't share a kitchen, have them put - in a paper bag or a box -
five to ten ingredients from their kitchen, bring them over to your place,
and then see what you have that could compliment that and create a 3-course meal.
If your usual go-to is to binge-watch TV,
maybe make it into a "movie marathon" instead.
All you have to do is choose a theme, and then choose three movies to fit that theme.
So the theme could be a particular city in the world, it could be a particular
actor or director,
or just a subject matter,
and you can choose three videos that fit that theme.
Extra points if your potluck also fits that theme!
Maybe you're more a board game person; I don't really get that.
I always say, "they're called 'bored' games for a reason."
But that's always another thing to do. Video games too, if you have a
multi-player gaming system available to you.
If you want to be social but you can't have anybody
immediately in the same room as you, you could always do it online
via, again, video games, or by checking into some kind of live-streaming event.
There's always stuff going on that you could find in pretty much any
interest that you could possibly have.
Or something that I'll do once in a while is I'll look for new music,
either on Spotify or YouTube.
I'll watch some music videos that have just been released,
and I'll try to find things that I can share with my friends.
This really works if you know what their music tastes are,
and if you're really interested in different genres and different kinds of music yourself.
I would also suggest listening to live radio and finding a DJ that you like,
and not only does this foster that sense of "live-ness"
of-the-moment, feeling like there's some kind of community and other people around
doing a similar thing as you are in this moment,
and it also can help you to find that new music you're looking for.
So did I miss anything? Does anybody have any other suggestions?
Let us know in the comments PLEASE,
we need to make this list as long as possible.
And that's all I've got for today.
'til next time!
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