What activities do you like to do in your free time

What do you like to do in your spare time? 7 Interview answers

How we spend our free time tells a lot about our personality and energy levels. Many interviewers may inquire about your hobbies, or what you enjoy doing when you aren’t working. They try to understand who you are, and what they can expect from you in work. The question can be put in many different ways, for example “Please describe three activities that you most enjoy in your free time“, or “What do you enjoy doing on weekends?“, or “What do you like to do outside of work?”

At the end of the day though, they are always asking about the same thing, and the 7 sample answers on my list will work for any wording of the question. Below the answers you will find a short analysis of this question, and a few suggestions that should help you formulate your perfect interview answer to this question.

Sample answers to “What do you enjoy doing in your leisure time?” interview question

Your outside of work activities can help you connect with your interviewers

Hiring managers and recruiters are people, just like you or me. They also have their hobbies and activities they enjoy doing in their leisure time.

And just like everyone else, they enjoy spending time with people who think on the same wavelength, and perhaps share the same passion for something (be it art, sports, anything).

Before you interview for a job, try to check their LinkedIn profiles or even Facebook profiles online. Check the professional groups they belong to, stuff they post about. This should give you an idea of the activities they enjoy doing in their leisure time. And if you share any passion with them, mention it when they inquire about your leisure time activities. Shared passion can be a bridge you can walk across to win them over, and to subsequently win your new job contract.

* Special Tip: This questions is relatively easy, but you will face many tricky questions while interviewing for any decent job. Questions about prioritization, dealing with pressure, dealing with ambiguity, and other tricky scenarios that happen in the workplace. If you want to make sure that you stand out with your answers and outclass your competitors, have a look at our Interview Success Package. Up to 10 premium answers to 31 tricky scenario based questions (+ more) will make your life much easier in the interviews. Thank you for checking it out!

Active lifestyle will always win you some extra points

Employers know the statistics, and the Achilles heel of today’s average worker. People are sick ever more often. We struggle with energy levels, and without a cup of coffee in the morning many of us wouldn’t even be able to leave the house… We battle with illnesses and addictions.

If you devote yourself to any activities that promote good health–walking, power hiking, running, cycling, yoga, meditation, and other, you should definitely mention it in your interview. Even if you are just starting (or perhaps you only went for your first run yesterday), you should still mention it.

Companies prefer to hire people with high energy levels, people who won’t be sick every other week. Ensure them that you do what you can to stay healthy.

Learning never stops for the best in any field

Another leisure time activity that will impress the interviewers is learning. World evolves quickly (actually the pace is quite crazy). A technology or an information that made wonders for us a year ago may fail to deliver any results today. People who never stop learning (and enjoy the process) are the best employees.

Now, this doesn’t mean that you have to enroll in ten online courses, or read five new books each month. It’s just about saying that perhaps you enjoy checking industry news in your leisure time, or sometimes travel to a conference or watch a documentary on weekends, or anything. Your attitude matters for the interviewers. If they see that you enjoy learning new things in your leisure time, you will win some extra points for your interview answer.

* Do not forget to check: How to dress for an interview – 4 things to consider when choosing clothes to wear.

Having no spare time is also fine (and a sad reality of many of us :))

If you have a family, or care for someone else after work (your elderly mother, for example), or even have another job (part time waiter in a restaurant, for example), you can calmly say to you do not have any leisure time, as long as you explain why.

Once you show them that you are a responsible mother or father, or son, or that you have your goals (or debts) and do not mind working extra hours each day to make some extra cash, you present yourself as an responsible individual, someone they would be able to rely on. And that’s important for each employer…

Conclusion, sample answers to more difficult interview questions

Each interview answer is important. The activities that we enjoy doing in our free time tell a lot about our personality, and attitude to other people, work, and life.

Try to show them that you aren’t bored from life, that you do not live only to work. You enjoy your spare time, do something for your health, some passion still burns within you, at least for some activities.

Last but not least, if you identify a hobby you share with your interviewer, talk about it in an interview. It can help you to connect with them on a rather personal level, and such connection is priceless for your eventual success in the interview…

Ready to answer this one, but not ready yet to ace your interview? Check our Interview Success Package 2.0 for sample answers to 104 interview questions–including all tricky scenario-based questions. Learn how to answer all difficult questions, impress the hiring managers, and leave them with one option only–to offer you a job at the end of the interview.

What do you like to do in your free time?

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IELTS Speaking part 1 имеет ограниченный набор вопросов. Это означает, что их все можно классифицировать.

What do you like to do in your free time? — тип вопросов, который часто задают на тесте. Чтобы на него ответить, вам нужно следовать рекомендациям в посте.

Мы с вами рассмотрим разные типы вопросов и то, как можно на них ответить. Это не является лучшим или единственно правильным ответом. Но я вам рекомендую взять их себе на заметку.

Помните, что хорошая подготовка — залог успешной сдачи любого экзамена.

Итак, когда экзаменатор спрашивает вас подобного рода вопросы

What do you like to do in your free time? — type questions

Помните, что вопросы необязательно должны начинаться именно так. Главное, проанализируйте саму суть вопроса, и затем применяйте наши рекомендации.

Порядок ответа:

Вам нужно освоить или повторить следующую структуру:

3 шага к ответу

1.Используйте либо enjoy/like+verb-ing либо like to+verb

(“I like studying foreign languages”/ “I like to study foreign languages – I enjoy studying foreign languages)

2. Используйте один или два фразовых глагола, типичных для носителей языка для выражения мысли «I like»

( (I’m quite into playing computer games”/ “I’m really keen on baking cakes”)

3. Используйте прилагательные положительных чувств для того чтобы показать степень ваших чувств.

(“I like playing ice hockey. It’s exciting”/I’m quite into climbing the mountains. I find it fascinating.) Вы можете записаться на бесплатный пробный урок по английскому языку. З

Шаг 1 Like & Enjoy

Глаголы Like и Enjoy очень распространены, поэтому вам нужно их очень хорошо усвоить.

Like

Like

I like to relax

I like hanging out with friends

Enjoy

I really enjoy eating ice cream.

Если вы или экзаменатор в процессе разговора уже упомянули деятельность, то обсуждение можно продолжить ссылаясь на него как «it».

“I really enjoy studying English. It’s fun”

Во втором предложении «it» относится к «studying English». Это делается для того, чтобы избежать лексических повторов.

При этом нужно помнить о согласовании числа, например, если ранее вы говорили о чем-то во множественном числе, то соответственно к нему будете говорить «they».

“I like watching football matches — they are so exciting.”

Практическое задание

Each of the sentences below are has at least one mistake. Identify the mistakes and write the correct sentences in the spaces provided.

When I’m not working I really enjoy to cycle in the countryside outside my city. They are a very healthy and exciting pastime.

I really like to getting involved in team sports. It is particularly good for building up cooperative skills and healthy competition.

I especially liking to spend my free time sleeping and being lazy in my dormitory.

My friends and I are really keen on play computer games. It is a really good way to spend an evening.

I enjoy to take part in martial arts like Kungfu. It can keep you fit and make you strong!

She enjoys go out to bars on weekends and hang out with friends.

Шаг 2 Способы сказать «I like»

Давайте рассмотрим способы выражения «I like» в стиле носителя языка.

I’m quite into playing football – I get very excited about it.

I’m a big fan of hip-hop music – I often go to concerts

I’m really keen on going to eat in Chinese restaurants – I love Chinese food

I’m very interested in law; I’m always reading about the latest laws and legal cases.

Практическое задание

Rewrite the words below in the correct order

1.Quite on detective into stories I’m TV watching

2. Of fan comedies huge a romantic She’s

3. Interested I’m latest in fashions extremely the

4. Very dancing He’s with at clubs on friends keen

Шаг 3 Прилагательные позитивных чувств

Для того чтобы объяснить, почему вам нравится что-то делать, следует использовать прилагательные позитивных чувств. Для неносителей языка очень трудно использовать их правильно и кандидаты часто теряют баллы из-за неправильного их использования.

Используйте to be + verb-ed при описании человека, испытывающего чувства, ощущения

Используйте to be + verb-ing когда говорите о вещи, вызывающей эмоции

Практические задания

Complete the sentences below by writing the correct forms of the words in brackets.

Типичные ответы

Interviewer: What do you like to do in your free time?

Candidate: Well, I have lots of hobbies I like to do in my spare time. I’m very interested in studying English and I’m also quite into martial arts – sometimes I combine these two interests by watching Chinese or American movies. What I particularly enjoy is playing table tennis – it’s so exciting.

Interviewer: What do you like to do in the evening?

Candidate: I work really hard during the day so in the evening I like to relax and unwind. I’m a big fan of hip-hop and rock music, and I like hanging out with friends watching gigs. I’m also keen on reading novels and short stories. I’m involved in a reading group at my university and every so often we get together and discuss the latest books we’ve read over dinner – it’s so stimulating to talk and hear different views about the books we’ve all read

По ссылке ниже вы можете получить 15 бесплатных минут для общения с носителем языка

101 Productive & Useful Things To Do In Your Free Time

In this day and age where some people do not have the time to even take a deep breath, you should feel lucky that you have some free time on your hands, so rather than just spending your time lying around and doing nothing you ought to make each and every moment count by doing something productive that interests you. So here is a list of some productive things to do in your free time, you are bound to have a lot of fun!

Best Things to do in Your Free Time:

1. Be an active volunteer for an NGO:

One of the noblest, as well as productive ways to spend your free time, would be to volunteer for a local non-governmental organization. If there is some cause which you feel strongly about then there would most certainly be a no better way for you to be spending your free time. Also, there are many benefits of becoming a volunteer.

There are innumerable social evils which are rampant in the society, if you do your bit to fight against them or even spread some awareness about it then you are bound to help many people, without even knowing it.

2. Settle your house:

The home is where the heart lies and in your spare time, you should make it a point to settle your house and get various things in order. There is most certainly some truth in the common saying that ‘A clean home is a happy home’ so rather than just throwing caution to the wind or spending hundreds on a housekeeper you could always get down to doing things on your own. If your house is well kept you will surely feel a great deal of pride and joy.

3. Sign up for a dance class:

Irrespective of whether you have two left feet or you are a great dancer, you should most certainly consider signing up for a dance class alone or with some of your close friends. Often what people are unable to express through words they are able to express through the movements of their body.

Even if you think that you are terrible at it, you should just remember that everyone is just there to have a fun time, no one is going to make fun or ridicule you.

4. Go for a walk or a jog:

Rather than sitting at home doing nothing in your spare time, you could always consider going for a long walk or even a jog. Doing these two things will really help you gather your thoughts as well as keep healthy.

So instead of postponing your appointment at the gym or saying you will go for a walk tomorrow you should just take the plunge and get to it.

Over time you will notice that going for a walk or jog will make you feel so refreshed that it will become a part of your daily schedule.

5. Visit some historical monuments in your city:

One of the most productive ways to spend your free time would be going to visit some famous tourist attractions in your city that you have never visited before yourself. In the process, you will not only appreciate your city more but you will also learn a great deal about it.

Exploring the place you live in will really help you fall in love with. You could choose to go on this little adventure alone or even with your friends. Don’t forget to buy some postcards for your scrapbook!

6. Start a blog about something to do that interests you:

In today’s technological age there are innumerous people across the globe that spends their free time blogging. Your blog could be on anything that interests you, whether it is cooking, sports, movies, societal problems or even books.

No matter where your interests lie, or how unconventional your blog is, if you write well and make your blog interesting then you are bound to attract a large number of people. If you end up loving this past time you could choose to pursue it as a career.

7. Read a good book:

If you are a bookworm then this is certainly something productive that you could do in your free time. There are innumerable ways to get your hands on a good book, whether you take a walk to your nearest library, you borrow one from a dear friend or if you are a tech savvy person then you could simply download your book with the quick click of a button.

A good book is something that can transport you from your immediate surroundings to another world altogether!

8. Find a hobby for yourself:

In your free time, you could choose to do a variety of different things as improving useful skills to learn where your talents or interests lie. Rather than focusing on only one thing, if you tried your hand at many things you could easily get to know yourself better.

Often people tend to confuse their interests with their abilities and trying new things could really surprise you, like something you never thought you could ever be good at might be something that comes very naturally to you.

9. Make a Scrap Book:

Scrapbooking is a past time that many people indulge in when they are free. Initially, it might start off as a hobby but over time you might get addicted to it!

It is certainly a very productive way to spend your time, you could choose to make a scrapbook about a place you recently visited or even on all the places in the world that you would like to visit and fill the pages out when you do. You could always head down to a stationary shop near your house and buy a few things.

10. Go visit an old age home:

Spending your free time down is fun; however, the most rewarding thing would be spending your free time with others who do not have anyone to talk to. There are innumerable senior citizens who are made to live in old age homes once they have reached a certain age and are incapable of taking care of themselves.

These people look for a company and it would really brighten up their day if you choose to spend some time with them and enjoy your time by making someone smile.

11. Meditate for a while:

Trying to survive in this modern world is tough indeed. It is of paramount importance to spend at least a part of your free time in meditation so as to ensure that you do not crack under pressure and undergo a mental break down.

People who meditate are ones who are able to survive better under pressure as opposed to those that do not know what to do when things get out of hand. The practice of Yoga has proved to be helpful to millions across the globe.

12. Spend some silent moments in conversation with God:

In this day and age, there are many people that have forgotten the importance of God in their lives. They think themselves to be invincible. In your free time activities to do include a point to spend some quiet moments in prayer and thank God for everything that he has blessed you with.

Even if it is five sincere moments you have spent in prayer you can rest assured that God is going to be by your side in your time of need when you have no one else to turn to.

13. Watch a movie which received rave reviews:

When you have some free time one productive thing for you to do is watch a movie that has received a number of good reviews. It is not necessary that you have to head to the hall you could always download it and watch it from the comfort of your own home.

Watching movies is a way that most people choose to spend their free time however ensure that it is not a silly one, rather it is one that is enriching for you.

14. Spend some time in your personal care:

A great way to productively spend your free time would be looking into your personal care. Whether it is your nails that need filing, your clothes that need ironing, your hair that needs to be oiled or your shoes that need to be polished, you should look into it.

Only when you look good can you feel good. If you have a haphazard and shabby look about you then people are unlikely to give you the respect that you deserve.

Best Ways to Spend Your Free Time:

In this busy life, getting a little free time is like a boon. When people get a little free time, most of them spend it as per their likes, where few make the most of it (productively).

The general ideology of people desiring for a happy life is to stay healthy and have a proper balance in life. To make your life even more beautiful you need to gain a hobby or do things which are worthful. And the best time to do is the free time which you get. Doing so will boost up you to make your life a happy and enjoyable one.

Here are a few productive things that you can do in your free time.

Productive Ways to Use Your Free Time:

The best way to use your free time is spending with your friends and family, but if you get a little time, say few minutes, then here we have bought you some interesting things which you can do and make your spare time productive enough.

Easy and Productive Things to do With Your Free Time:

Ways Successful People Spend Their Free Time:

People become successful not only because of their unique features and great strategies at work but also by their ways and the methods of spending their time productively. Also, they do not extend their working hours(only if necessary) or work all the 7 days a week.

The way in which people spend their leisure time makes a great impact on their success in professional lives. Some of them are,

Instead of wasting your time carelessly during your free or spare time, you should rather use this productive time to do tasks that are helpful and fun. Though in this day and age having money is important so as to make two ends meet but making memories are equally important. No matter how much money you make at your workplace spending some happy times with your family and friends is surely worth more than a million bucks!

Free time activities essay 13 models

Free time activities essay

Leisure time

Leisure time is considered one of the most problems experienced by young people in our time. They spend their time playing or sitting in front of television and computer screens without doing anything useful. Therefore, we will present in this article a set of activities that can be done to get rid of this problem.

How to spend your free time:

A person can follow the style of reading in his life, either by buying books, making use of a free library card, or by exchanging books with his friends.

Writing, as this means has a great role in improving the psyche of the person and the translation of ideas and feelings and emptying them on paper.

Man can adhere to this habit until it becomes an integral part of his life, and may develop this talent to become a well-known writer later.

A person can begin to write about a particular event or turning point in his or her life, he can also write his diary, for example.

Writing poetry in its various forms and types.

Sewing, a nice idea to start a sewing project, fashion design, knitting art pieces.

Walking, it has multiple benefits to the health of the body, heart and blood vessels.

Drawing, which allows the person to translate the ideas in his head through the work of simple graphics, and can develop this talent through the lessons of learning online and available free of charge.

Cooking, cooking skill is necessary and must be learned in life, and there is nothing more beautiful than to cook with your hands and make new and unfamiliar dishes.

The manufacture of various accessories and jewelry, which require multiple raw materials, and can learn this skill through learning lessons spread across the Web.

Fishing, this is a good way to spend enjoyable time for people who live near the sea and the water bodies.

Taking photos, using specialized cameras or using a smartphone’s camera, so that people can take beautiful pictures of scenic and natural places.

To learn the chess, it is known that this game helps to increase thinking, raise the level of intelligence, in addition to being a good way to challenge the self.

Free time activities essay

My free time activities are walking and jogging. I love to share this hobby with others, especially with friends, after a long and hard school week.

I need nothing more than to drain my energy so that I can release the pressure and tension from within me. And renew my activity to return to school with all activity and vitality.

Walking is very wonderful, especially when you wake up early and start some warm-up with friends, have some interesting conversations, and then start doing sports.

I always find my day more energetic when I can get up early and do my exercises. I already feel the effect of the activity of the blood circulation, and the softness of the nerves and muscles, and I can relax without feeling any pain in my body resulting from pressure and tension.

Therefore, I like to do some sports activities during my spare time, whether with friends or on my own.

Free time activities paragraph

The activities I do in my spare time are many because of the area in which I live. My friends and I can go mountain bike tours, visit different places by bike and experience discovery. I also tend to try out some new practices like gymnastics, horseback riding, or playing tennis.

It is nice to take advantage of the free time and acquire some new skills. I love doing all these things but I’m still interested in short trips with friends that allow us to get to know each other more, and spend evenings and trips half a day or a full day together. That makes me very happy.

What do you do in your free time essay

I like to use my free time to do useful work, or practice a hobby that I like, therefore, I spend my spare time fishing, which is my favorite hobby.

Fishing is an interesting hobby and has many benefits, including that I enjoy watching the sea and its crashing waves, and also enjoying the fresh air. Then I finally get a meal of delicious fresh fish. Also, I don’t go fishing alone, I go with my best friend, we have a good time and we make use of the fish we caught.

A free time activity you enjoy essay

The activity I like to do in my spare time is cooking of all kinds, as I make all kinds of pizzas and sweets. I learned to cook from my aunt because she was working as a chef in a big hotel. When I was young I watched her cook and I was so happy. As I got older, I became more attached to this hobby until I became unable to do anything else. At the end of the year, I go to my aunt’s house to learn a number of new recipes, so that I can implement them in my next spare time.

How do you spend your free time essay

Snow covers everything in winter and the lakes in my town freeze. I like to spend my spare time in riding a Ski Bike or in traditional skating.

Sometimes I go with my father to the lake to catch fish. The lake is frozen so we must first sit inside our log cabin on the lake and dig a hole in the ice. And through this hole we can fish. I love spending such time with my father or my friends.

Every year I spend my spare time doing the same things. I am excited in the coming years to travel to other countries and discover more curious and interesting things.

Paragraph about free time activities

My name is (..). I have a family consisting of (..) people.
I am (..) years old.

On vacation last year, my father told us about the importance of volunteering in charitable work and participating in social activities through which we can help others.

Therefore, we have some activities that we do whenever the opportunity arises, especially on vacations and holidays. Such as volunteering in hygiene campaigns and preserving the environment. Or visits to hospitals and provide psychological support to the patient.

So there is always a new person we get to know and try to make happy, or there is an area we share and work to improve the general appearance of it.

We often work on the sides of roads and rivers where some people throw rubbish there. Therefore, we share hygiene and hang awareness banners in these areas.

Sometimes we distribute some warning leaflets to them to preserve the environment in which they live. I love doing these activities very much and I hope they will manage.

Paragraph about how to spend your free time

I like to spend my time on normal days playing video games and roaming with my friends in the streets,
Sometimes we go to parties to have fun.

But in recent weeks, that seemed to change a little, as I became involved in voluntary activities after joining a non-governmental charitable organization, which is interested in visiting orphaned children, children with burns, and children with cancer.

Since I joined this association, I no longer care about games as much as before. I work on picking positive words during conversation and showing love through jokes and hiding the side of pity that I used to show when I saw them, I knew that it was bad and made them upset.

I think after joining this association and doing some volunteer work with them that something has changed in me. I feel that I have become more mature and I love the volunteer work through which we raise the morale of many children who need this support.

My Favourite Free Time Activities Essay

I love photography very much. I own a Nikon D3500 camera. Not the best of the species, but it is very good and took many great shots.

I very much like to go out on holidays like summer vacation, or holidays from school and take some pictures of birds and landscapes. I teach in class (write your class here). Therefore, I do not practice my hobby a lot except on vacations only.

I love visiting natural areas and photographing some close-up shots of birds or people. I always go around looking for a special shot or an impressive scene that I can capture without affecting its beauty to be natural and unique.

I like to post my photos to my social media accounts. It gets a lot of praise and encouragement. When I grow up I hope to be this is my job.

Essay a free time activity you enjoy

Undoubtedly, free time is one of the times that everyone needs to practice some activities to unload the activity trapped inside them, so I like to volunteer in some non-governmental charities and visit cancer patients and support them.

Such activities impress me a lot and make me learn from their experiences and suffering to appreciate life, and how to live according to a healthy diet, which helps me prevent many diseases.

In the aspect of self-confidence, such visits always help me in developing my rhetoric and developing jokes to ease the suffering of others.

One of my ambitions in the future is to become a doctor and I would very much like to specialize in treating children. I like to deal with them a lot and I am very happy to relieve their psychological burdens.

I also like to go out on some volunteers to clean up my surroundings and participate in some seminars.

Essay about a free time activity you enjoy

I very much like to participate in volunteer activities that make me get to know others and share conversations with them and benefit from their experience a lot.

I may describe myself as a social person who loves all people and is very tolerant with myself. One of my best features is that I can notice details and keep them in my memory without forgetting them.

Therefore, I very much like to participate in non-governmental associations for the treatment of alcohol, or any kind of addiction, and some encouraging seminars for the injured.

I always find what I look for when other people talk about their pain and tell how it happened. I can benefit from this, and I liked a lot some of my posts that I recommended to some, and the advice was fruitful and useful.

I expect to benefit from my talent in the future, I may study psychiatric counseling or some thing like that.

Write a paragraph about your free-time activities

It is great for a person to have a variety of different activities that he does in his spare time. Such variety does not make me bored and always makes me excited to try some new things.

I love fishing very much, so I practice more than one different way of fishing, and I can find out the most suitable among them according to the season, direction and wind speed. I also love very much to play basketball and soccer.

The diversity of activities always makes me active and happy and I do not feel depressed, especially when I am passionate about hunting. I can enjoy a lot of fishing and forget about anything that bothers me.

I also love to research and learn my lessons before I study them. Therefore, I like to go to the library and read some historical books or books that may be related to my studies. This makes me more open to the subject we are studying and familiar with many aspects of it.

How to spend your free time essay

When asked how do you spend your free time? I find myself thinking about one thing, I really feel that I love nothing more than fishing, and watching TV programs that talk about the means, methods and seasons of fishing.

I love being on the beaches, or rivers, I can catch fish in more than one way, I like a lot to strive to catch the biggest fish and challenge my brother or father, and maybe some friends who share my love for this hobby.

What can I say, I think I’m obsessed with this hobby and I really like the idea that it became more popular on TV shows. I watched some competitions here and there, I hope in the future to participate in one and show my hunting abilities and talents.

30 Productive Things to do With Your Free Time

Free time in this day and age is often hard to come by. With everything from work to appointments constantly demanding your time, it can often feel like it’s been months since you were able to stop and take a breather.

Then if you do get the chance to stop and take a deep breath, it’s not long before your phone starts ringing or emails start pouring in.

Being busy has become the norm, and if you do have any free time it doesn’t last long and gets filled up before you know it.

Hold on, if I’m busy, doesn’t that mean I’m being productive and getting stuff done, too?

That’s why I believe that free time is so important. I believe we should take a step back, maybe that means not volunteering this weekend or turning down that shift at work. That may mean bumping your coffee date to next week and taking a day this week to spend some time doing nothing .

Rejuvenating and re-energizing your body is important, and it doesn’t happen if we’re constantly busy.

Taking a day to just focus on yourself and your family is a great way to free up some time, and doing some small, productive things with that time can help you grow closer as a family and help everyone in the family enter tomorrow with a renewed sense of energy.

Rather than using your free time to veg out on the couch all day (though sometimes that’s definitely needed), you can fill it up with the things on the list below to help keep your days and free time from becoming too busy, but still being productive.

If you’re on the other end of the spectrum and you find yourself having too much free time, for whatever reason that may be, you can use this following list to fill your free time with productive things that will help you keep your free time from getting filled up, but also help you be productive with that time.

Whether you have a lot or just a little spare time in your day, there are a few things you can do to be more productive, happier, and healthier.

Put your spare time to work for you

I’ll admit, some days you do need to just sit your butt down on the couch and veg out. There’s nothing wrong with that. But, if you find you have enough spare time, it’s a good idea to use that time to do something productive with your day.

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30 easy and productive things to do with your free time

1. Read a book

Whether you have 5 minutes or an hour, picking up a good book and spending some time reading it is a great way to spend your free time in a productive way. If your whole family has a bit of spare time, rather than sitting down to watch TV challenge everyone to pick a book and spend a certain amount of time reading it.

Not convinced that reading is productive?

Reading reduces stress, stimulates the brain, provides you with knowledge, improves your memory, helps improve focus and concentration, creates better writing skills, and of course offers free entertainment for however long you choose.

2. Exercise

You knew this one was going to be on the list… you were just really hoping it wouldn’t be. I was hoping it wouldn’t, anyway.

Exercising, even if it’s just a quick 5-minute walk down the road, is a fantastic way to use your free time. After you exercise you will feel so much more energized, healthy, and ready to face the rest of the day, rather than when you sit on the couch in front of the TV and end up feeling sluggish and lazy for the rest of the day.

Not only are you be being productive with your spare time when you exercise, but you will also be reaping the many, many benefits that come with exercising, including:

If that’s not enough to get you out the door and on a brisk walk down the road, do it just because it will make you feel much better overall.

3. Do a bit of home organization

I have a very strong love/dislike relationship with home organization. I love having an organized home, but I don’t always love getting it to an organized state, especially when I have let my cleaning and organization duties go for too long and I’m faced with an extra messy house.

Nonetheless, even if you only have 10 minutes you can still use that small amount of time to do a quick tidy-up of your home.

Set a timer and make it a challenge for everyone in the house, the one with the cleanest room, or the one that has picked up and put away (in the correct spots) the most stuff by the time the timer goes off, is the winner.

Or just take everyone out for ice cream afterward, that’s always a good idea.

If your house is in dire need of a major cleaning and reorganizing, check out The Organized Home. This eCourse is taught by Hilary, who knows exactly what it feels like to be trapped in a home that is far from perfect.

Hilary doesn’t try to say she’s going to help you create the perfect home, because we all know the perfect home only lives in our dreams. But what Hilary does help you go through this course is create an organized life while keeping it a bit crazy and a whole lot of fun. If you’re interested, you can learn more here.

4. Pay bills

This definitely isn’t the most fun option on the list, but it’s something that has to be done from time to time, and if you’ve been falling behind lately use these couple minutes of free time that you have to catch up on some much-needed bill paying.

Paying late fees is one of the easiest ways to keep yourself from becoming debt free, and paying late fees all starts with forgetting, or putting off, paying your bills. Don’t let that happen, and don’t waste your hard-earned money on late fees.

Then, to treat yourself, take that money that you saved and go out and get yourself something small and affordable (like a coffee or donut).

5. Create free online accounts to get cash back

While we’re on the topic of finances, take a few minutes to set up some free online accounts that will end up earning you cash back over the next few months.

A few of my favorite sites to use to earn cash back are:

6. Take surveys

Taking online surveys is another productive thing that you can do with your spare time. Taking online surveys is a great way to use your spare time to earn some extra cash.

Sites like Survey Junkie and Swagbucks offer money (or gift cards) in exchange for you completing surveys on their sites.

They are free to use, and you can create an account and do a few surveys, wait until you have more spare time, and do some more surveys.

7. Learn a new hobby

Maybe you’ve always wanted to learn how to crochet have never had time to. Maybe you’ve been wanting to learn how to ballroom dance (Youtube is a great teacher), or maybe you’ve wanted to learn a new card game or trick.

Use this free time to pick up a new hobby, even if it’s something you’ve always wanted to try but will probably never try again after today. Go ahead and do that one thing you’ve always wanted to do.

8. Get crafty

Get crafty by picking up a paintbrush, pencil, sewing needle, or crochet hook and spend some time doing something you enjoy.

Does it feel like you haven’t done something for yourself that you enjoy in a really long time? Go ahead and give yourself permission to do that thing now.

Don’t feel bad for taking some you time. You’ve been busy, you deserve some you time.

9. Cook or bake

Go ahead and pick up your trusty old cookbook, or find a new recipe online and bake or cook something new (or old).

This is a great way to waste time in a productive way, and you’ll end up with a delicious treat to munch on when you’re finished.

Even if you’ve never been much of a baker or cooker, try your hand at it and see if it’s something you enjoy. If you don’t end up enjoying it, you don’t have to do it again, but it doesn’t hurt to try.

10. Play cards

Even if you’re by yourself you can learn a new card game to play. Solitaire is just one of the many card games that you can play by yourself.

Playing cards won’t just help you pass the time, it also exercises your brain to keep it sharp and help you concentrate.

11. Plan a coffee date with an old or new friend

Do you have that one person that you always say “we should really go out for lunch sometime!” but never go out with?

Or, maybe you met someone new this week and thought to yourself that you’d like to get to know them better – what better time to reach out to them than now?

You don’t have to have them over for coffee right now if you want to use your free time to just relax, but you can take this time to call them and set a coffee date for a couple days from now.

12. Learn more about something that interests you

It may be just a hobby, or maybe it’s something that you just learned about and it piqued your interest. Take some time now to research it, find books at the library on it, and find articles online to learn more about something that interests you.

13. Write a letter

When’s the last time you picked up a pencil and paper and wrote an old-fashioned letter?

Pick someone in your family or a friend who you know would love to get something in the mail, then write them a letter.

If it’s been a while since you’ve talked to this person take time to recap what has been happening in your life since you last talked to each other, then put it in an envelope with a stamp and mail it off.

14. Sort your paper clutter

Paper clutter can easily become overwhelming when it gets left undealt with for long periods of time.

It doesn’t take long for our paper clutter to get out of control – if I just leave the mail sitting on the table for anything over two days it seems to become a mountain of papers and flyers.

The same goes for bills, receipts, and other paper in our house.

If the paper clutter in your house is a bit out of control, use your spare time to sort through your papers and create a way to keep these papers organized.

15. Set goals

If you’re someone who likes to set and achieve goals, grab a notebook and set a few goals. Set easy goals and goals that seem next to impossible.

Set both long term and short-term goals. Goals you would like to achieve within the next week and month, and goals that you would like to achieve within the next 1 – 5 years.

After you set those goals, write down the action steps that you need to take to work towards achieving those goals.

16. Scrapbook

Scrapbooking can be extremely expensive if you buy all the bells and whistles that come along with scrapbooking (like ready-made scrapbooks where all you have to do is insert pictures). To make scrapbooking more affordable, do it yourself.

Use stuff like construction paper and other crafting supplies that you have at home to make your scrapbooking decorations, rather than spending a fortune on them at the store.

You can also cut pictures out of a magazine or find printable pictures online for your scrapbook.

17. Learn paper mache

After you sort through all the paper clutter in your house, you’re likely going to have a lot of papers and flyers to throw out. Rather than tossing them in the garbage, learn some simple paper mache on Youtube to recycle all that old paper that you were just going to throw away and make something creative out of it.

18. Take an online course

If you want to increase your knowledge in a particular area, but don’t feel like leaving the house to do so, do a quick Google search of online courses on the particular subject you want to learn more about.

You may even be able to find a few free online courses to get you started.

19. Learn how to meal plan and prep

Meal planning and prepping probably isn’t something that you get excited about (I do!), but it can save you so much time and money over time that it is worth learning, even if you really don’t want to.

Who knows, if you give it a try you might realize that it really isn’t as bad as you once thought it was. Then, when you go grocery shopping and realize how much money you saved, there’s a good chance you’ll be hooked.

I love meal planning and am a huge advocate of it. If you’re interested in meal planning you can learn more here.

20. Return phone calls

Do you have a list of people you need to call back, but haven’t been able to find time to lately? Grab your list along with a pen and paper, to write down any important notes, and return some phone calls.

21. Clean up your inbox

Use this spare time to do a thorough sweep of your inbox. Emails inboxes can become cluttered with an overwhelming amount of sale emails and newsletters over time.

Create folders and sort all your emails into the appropriate folders, then unsubscribe from any emails that you no longer wish to receive.

Our online lives can become so cluttered, doing this will help you create a bit of order in your online presence.

22. Put important dates on the calendar

Maybe someone recently got married but you haven’t had a chance to put their anniversary on your calendar yet, or maybe there’s a new member of your family and you haven’t gotten a chance to put their birthday on the calendar just yet.

This is also a good time to go through your entire calendar. Whiteout any dates or notes that you no longer need, add any important birthdays, anniversaries, and other events that you need to keep track of, too.

23. Weed the garden

I find weeding the garden such a relaxing way to clear my head. If you have a garden, head outside for some time by yourself and get all those pesky weeds out of your garden.

If you don’t have a garden yet but want one, you can use this time to create a garden plot or plan where you want your future garden to go, how big it will be, if you will make it in raised beds or on the ground, and what kind of stuff you will plant in your garden.

24. Spend some “you” time

Spend your spare time doing something you enjoy, whether that be an at-home spa day that you give to yourself, watching a movie you’ve been wanting to watch for some time, or just sitting and relaxing.

Whatever it is that you enjoy doing and you find relaxing, do that, and don’t worry about the other pressing demands of the day for now.

25. Take out the recycling

If you have a big pile of recycling in your house or garage, you could use these few minutes to bring it in to the bottle depot and earn some money.

Then, you could go out for a quick coffee with that money you just made from the recycling, or save it for a rainy day.

26. Learn origami

Years ago I tried my hand at some origami, and I loved it. Though I’m not the most crafty or artsy person around, I still enjoyed getting my origami on.

If you want to learn how to do origami you don’t have to go out and buy some expensive kit from the get-go. Instead, do a quick Google or Youtube search on learning how to do origami and get started with paper that you have laying around the house.

27. Start a challenge

Starting a challenge is a great way to be productive with your spare time, but keep in mind that you’re going to have to find ways to fit that challenge into your everyday life from today on out until you’re finished the challenge.

You could choose something like a decluttering challenge ( like this one) to do over the span of a few days, or you could choose a reading challenge or any other type of challenge that fits your personality.

28. Start dinner prep

Whatever time of day it is, if you are wondering what to do with your free time, starting dinner prep is always a good use of your time.

Even if you had plans of just making frozen pizza for dinner tonight, do a quick search on Pinterest or Google for some simple homemade dinner recipes and make a nice homemade dinner.

29. Declutter your house

I get that decluttering isn’t for everyone, and some people may think you need to set aside a solid week to declutter, but that’s not always the case.

If you wanted to do a thorough declutter of your house chances are that, yes, you would need to set aside a lot more time than just 10 minutes. But, if 10 minutes is all you have right now and you see a particular room or area in your house that needs tending to, take that time and work as fast as you can to get everything back in its correct place.

Make sure you have a “donate” bin with you at all times. Chances are, you’re going to come across at least a few things that you no longer need and could give away.

30. Start a blog

Of course I had to add this one to the list, since my blog got started while I had some spare time, and ended up growing to my full-time job from there.

Starting a blog, whether for a hobby or with intentions of making an income from it, can be an awesome way to use up your free time throughout the next while.

Who knows – you might start your blog and decide you want to give it your all and make it your main stream of income so you can work from home, or you may just want to start a blog for fun – either way, blogging is a great way to spend your time being productive.