How do you spend your spare time?

Posted On August 5, 2008 | Written by Emmanuel Oluwatosin

Do you spend your spare time or invest it? Spare time? Yeah…You read it well. Everybody has got spare time irrespective of who you are. It does not matter if you are a busy [tag]business owner[/tag] or a manager in a company. Everybody has some time of the day when you are not doing anything related to your [tag]business[/tag] or your work. So, how do you spend this time? Do you just allow the time to roll away or you sow it into your future? There are so many things you can do in your spare time to invest into your future. One of such ways is to invest into the development of your mental muscle.

Developing your mental muscles will give you the power to accomplish anything you want in life. It will ensure that you are always ahead of your peer. Moreover, it will prepare you for the opportunities that lie ahead and it will make sure that you are not missing opportunities. If you are looking at ways of developing your mind, you may need to read my previous write-up on developing your mind. I was able to highlight some of the things you can do to ensure that your mind is charged for what lies ahead.

Another way you can spend your spare time is to work on your pet-project. What is it that you have always wanted to do? What is your passion? What is it that you would rather do than what you are being paid to do now? Your spare time is an opportunity for you to try your hand on it. The beauty is that you don’t have to resign from your present place of [tag]employment[/tag] before you start. You can start by devouting your evenings and weekends to the fulfilment of your passion. You only need to tell yourself that you will give it all it takes. It is going to place a lot of demand on you and it might mean that you will cut out froma lot of activities. But I bet you, it is worth every minute you commit to doing this.

Many successful business men started this way. Michael Dell, Richard Branson, Bill Gate etc. all started this way. So, why can’t you take this route? One other advantage this will give you is that you will be able to learn how to fail forward. Since you are only committing part of your resources to this, the failure of the project or the business will not harm you but create a platform for you to learn how to do things in a better way. You will learn many ways in which you should not do things and this might turn out to be an invaluable lesson you will need if you eventually decide to pursue your passion full time.

You can also use your spare time to build your network. God has not created us in isolation. He created us to work with others on a daily basis. I have not seen anybody that live his dream to the fullest without the help of others. If the successful people already make use of this principle, it will do you much good to take this serious. One of the last things you will want to happen to you is to need help and for nobody to be available to help you. So, start today by sowing into the emotion bank of people.

Make it a conscious effort to reach out to others anytime and anywhere. You must make sure that your social and event calendar is always full.The more connections you establish, the more [tag]opportunities[/tag] you are given to make even more connections. What are you waiting for? Start today. Send that email. Make that call. Invite a colleague out for lunch or dinner. Include other people and watch your web of contacts grow.

These are some of the ways I spend my spare time. What about you? Share your thought and let us learn from your experience. You will defintely succeed.

7 Responses

  1. I use my sparetime to scheme on how to make even more money. I can think better with just a pen, and paper. Away from the PC, mobile, TV or other modern-day gizmos. It helps a lot.

  2. Hey Niyi,
    Thanks for the sharing your thought. I am sure many will benefit from this. I am glad that you pointed out one point that I missed in my write-up. I believe that one needs to give oneself what I call “technology-vacation” – taking a break from TV, internet, PC, phone etc. As useful as these tools may be, they sometimes constitute distractions and it takes discpline for one to let go and use the time for something else that is constructive. It is well…

  3. I spend most of my time blogging (like you probably do too). A homebuddy is a homebuddy. The rest is spent promoting the blog and copywriting it. Damn, I’ve been having too much Google Ads and Glyphius in my system. Maybe it’s time to just go for some good old exercise. What do you think?

  4. Donald,
    Thanks for the visit and comment. If you don’t mind, you can share your blog url here and I am sure many will find your write-ups useful

  5. Hmnnn The answer is DEVELOPING MY MIND! I have a strong appetite for knowledge. So I am either reading a motivational book or listening to christian motivational speakers.

    The rest time is spent with my family. They help get the stress out of my system as we laugh and roll on the floor. Life is meant to be enjoyed, not ENDURED

    I love knowledge and I get excited when I see EXCELLENCE at work. This post is an excellent work. Please keep them coming. Cheers.

  6. Thanks pal for the comment. I also spend my time with family. My family are the only set of people that can still give you a second chance when all people forsake you. So, it is wisdom to sow into their emotional bank much earlier than one will need to withdraw.

  7. My blog is my bestfriend…i spend most of the tyme with it…reading stuff online and sharing them.Though seriously trying to change jobs…but considered instead of just waiting for the world to change..change the world around me by acquiring basic knowledge and social networking…been really worth the while….still waiting though….considering several optioons…

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