Here we go again. Another blog about my favorite topic, schedules! A few weeks ago I gave you guys a brief rundown of what a day in my life looks like. Kind of jam-packed, right? After thinking about my daily routine more, I realized that I don’t schedule that much free time for myself. I have had a weekly schedule made since the start of the school year. When I went back to look at it, I was surprised to see that I never gave myself a break. But, I changed that quickly.
I sat down with my schedule and reconsidered how much time I was giving myself to do homework instead of giving myself a few minutes of free time. Do I really need four hours at night to do homework? Is there somewhere in my 6am to 11pm schedule that I can give myself even a half an hour break? I had to consider the workload of my classes but I also looked into all the breaks I had in between classes. I am much more productive during the day, so I found some time at night to give myself a nice 30-minute break.
The Importance of Free Time
It can encourage self-care. When we are always on the run, we forget to take a step back and practice self-care. Dedicating some time to meditate during the day can decrease stress levels and improve your overall health. Practicing healthy self-care will also help you stay more productive throughout the day.
It allows you to get up from your desk. I have an Apple Watch and at the 50th minute of every hour, it will remind me to stand if I haven’t stood yet that hour. Sitting in a chair for too long can hurt our backs, butts, and legs. Make it a goal to stand up and stretch your legs every hour. Getting up and taking a step away will give your legs and mind a little break. If you need to, set a timer to help remind you to stand up!
It Helps show loved ones they are a priority. Scheduling free time is like scheduling time to be with your friends and family. Putting aside an hour every day and giving your full attention to someone else will mean a lot to them. I am sure we have been on the other side of this situation and know what it feels like when someone is “too busy” to hang out with us. So, schedule some free time in your day. I will not only benefit you, but it will mean a lot to your friends and family.
It gives your brain something to look forward to. It is really hard to go all day doing none stop work. When we schedule our free time, we are 100% sure that we will have a break at some point. If we don’t schedule that free time, we could lose track of time and fry out our brains. Our brains need downtime. To be certain that we will get that downtime, we need to schedule it and stick to it.
It may seem like there are not enough hours in the day to schedule your free time. The first step is to sit down with your schedule and look at all the gaps you have. Where can you place other priorities? Sneaking work into the cracks of your schedule will help you have time to relax in the end. I know you can do it! What activities are you going to put in your downtime?
The hardest thing about free time for me is actually enjoying it when I have it. It’s so easy to let your mind think about all of the things you could be doing. I try to remind myself that free time is some of the best parts of life and it’s important to be fully present in it.
I am a procrastinator, so I really need to work on scheduling my free time better.
I agree that in order to maintain some sort of saneness you need free time. Especially in college. I always heard if you dont want to kill your roommates by the end of the year, you did college wrong. Which is true with free time. You sometimes need to get away in order to clear your mind. I found my gym time as my free time and stress reliever time.