It’s time to stop treating leisure time as collateral damage in your busy schedule! Between homework, quizzes, clubs, internships and extracurriculars, we tend to sacrifice free time. It always seems to be the first to go under a time constraint. But self-expression and leisure time is non-negotiable. A moment to think freely and to separate yourself from all those school-related stresses is just what you need to recharge.Â
Your best bet might be directly scheduling free time or creative time (as counterintuitive as that sounds). By putting it on your schedule, you solidify it. Otherwise, it might be tempting to compromise that time for yourself. It’s easy to think that there’s no consequence for not having creativity on your calendar. After all, no one is grading you on how well you take care of yourself. The whole point is that you aren’t graded for that time you spend. However, just because the consequences might not seem as definite as a grade does not mean they don’t exist. The time you spend with yourself can do wonders for your personal happiness and productivity.Â
It ensures you are in touch with what’s going on in your mind and body, allowing you a moment to stop responding to the chaos of your surroundings and instead listen to yourself. Perhaps a moment of reflection via journaling will clarify a complicated situation or painting will release some stress or sadness you weren’t even fully aware of because you were so invested in school or work-related tasks.Â
Embracing free time will also actually make you more productive. Taking some time to do things that make you happy will improve your motivation and engagement. By reducing stress and anxiety, you’ll increase your ability to focus and stay on task. Your mood will improve, and if you use some of this time to care for yourself, you might end up with fewer sick or lethargic days.Â
Planning a calming activity or a creative passion will give you something to look forward to throughout your day; it’s an objective, a reward. If you have something exciting coming up, then while you’re sitting in a lecture (potentially struggling to focus) or finishing the last few problems on your homework, you’ll be more inspired to push through.Â
Not to mention, you can strategize your free time to match your momentum. Your time away from work or school does not have to be the stereotypical idea of relaxation (i.e., binge-watching Netflix). Instead, you can use it to do something you find personally productive, whether it’s creative writing, playing an instrument or taking an acting class. Leisure time means taking a moment to do something just because you enjoy it, not because you feel like you have to. That is the only rule.
So, next time you write your weekly schedule in your planner or type a task into Google Calendar, remember to throw in some time for yourself too. Your leisure time might be just the thing to keep you motivated and productive. And, if you have no idea where to start, check out the graphic attached to this article for some ideas!