10 Things to Do to Make Your Time Worthwhile

It's been a really long time since I updated this blog. Laziness, that's it. My apologies.

Life is filled with responsibilities. You have to earn, support your family, find a suitable life partner (...ahem!) and the list doesn't even end here (it never even really began, I couldn't muster up more :P).  You can't (shouldn't!) shy away from them. And you don't really have to jump into them either. Not always. Mostly, you would be phased into them. And I believe that is the preferred way of going about it. Imagine suddenly changing dirty diapers instead of watching your latest TV Series episode - panic attack! Wouldn't you have rather finished your bathroom business before wearing that adult diaper?

If you enjoy your work, you will happily do whatever it takes to work what you enjoy. More you work, more rewards you might gain, and happier you may be. Happiness is not necessarily tied to your work though. But it's more likely that you will be relaxed once you're done with your work.

What about the remaining time then? What do you do when you aren't working? What do you do when you aren't completing homework? What do you do when you don't have to do something? If your answer is - "Time-pass" (which is not really a legitimate word in my opinion), then this post is for you. Here are some (precisely 10, potentially many) things that you can do while you have time to do anything (or nothing).

Read
...for leisure, information, thrills, relaxation, or anything else that you like. Read a story. Or a novel. Language really doesn't matter, so don't give excuses such as "Oh, I don't understand English that much" or "Western stories are not my cuppa-tea". If you can think in a language, you should read in that language as well. A good book will stimulate your senses, relax your brain, and expand your imagination. You will know more about communication than from any 'Learn xxx language in 24 hours' scams. You will find words when you need them the most, and will be able to keep your 'ummm' and 'arrr' for later use, may be you won't need them ever.

Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand. - Albert Einstein

Eat
...what you want, what you like, what suits you. Barring exceptions suggested for medical reasons, most food is quite beneficial, and essential for your body. Your brain needs food more than you need it for yourselves. And tasty food almost always makes your feel better. Try different cuisines, different dishes, have special dinners with your family, friends. Food will not only get your full on appetite, but also on those relationships. Vineet Deshpande will agree with me (at least with the appetite part :P). Do check his blog for posts about food; he is one of the biggest fans of food I've ever known.

Nothing would be more tiresome than eating and drinking if God had not made them a pleasure as well as a necessity. - Voltaire

 


Exercise
...to keep fit, to build muscles, to look good. You don't have to be in contention of Mr Olimpia, nor do you have to look as thin as a rope. Close the doors of your room and get jumping. Exercise makes your blood run everywhere, including your head, and get that oh-so-important oxygen to your muscles. Within a couple of days of exercise you will feel higher than that on ecstasy (not like I know what that is), making your super-enthusiastic (hopefully not annoyingly) to do even more things.

  

Sleep

...as much as you want, as much as you need. Scientifically, it's a myth that a person needs 8 hours of sleep everyday. But realistically, you should. Your brain organizes things during the sleep (I don't know about my brain, where did I keep her birthday again?). Also, your body gets the rest that it deserves. A good night's sleeps is the best make-up, so for females (or males, no judging!) this might be an added incentive. You don't lose life when you sleep, you gain energy to live more.

Memorize and Recollect
...things that you find interesting. Trivia is often a great ice breaker and a conversationalist's tool. Those who can keep talking, have  a fresh memory. By the way, a good memory is nothing without ability to recollect when you desire. How many times have your slapped your forehead because you couldn't remember the name of that actress you wanted to search on the web? Key to recollecting well is creativity and imagination. You are more likely to recollect strange imagery as compared to monotonous string of numbers. Ever wonder why you tend to remember gory movies more than droning drama?

Watch Movies
...and step into another world. It's amazing how many different unrealistic stories are out there, and even more amazing that so many have been made into movies. Apart from enjoying them by themselves, you have something to talk about when you have nothing to talk about. Remember that awkward moment when you went completely blank in your head about what to say next to this uninteresting person standing in front of you? Movies are one of the best ice breakers known to mankind. So your cold drinks will never get warm. I was brought into watching at least one movie a week by Manasi Lele (check her post about movies, she watches more movies than the length of pi), and I am so lucky to have found this hobby (and her :D).

Support a Team
...from any sport that you appreciate. So many are out there, and so many are on TV (ignore the ads and you get at least 10 minutes of pure sports action everyday!). Supporting a team gives you a sense of belonging to a group of people, and it's amazing to see the team do well. You can even abuse them for doing badly, and no one will judge you (unless you've played yourself. Then everyone will think you know what you're talking about. Yeah, right).

Laugh
...at yourself. You're funny and you know that. Even if you're surrounded by poker faces who don't let even fleas to move from their stoned faces, keep joking, and keep laughing. Just make sure that you don't get caught up in the giggle loop. 

Solve Puzzles

...to keep yourself sharp. It builds your logic, and exercises your mind. Crosswords, Sudoku, brainteasers are a great start. If you solve at least a puzzle a day, your mind will be sharp enough to cut stones (I know some stone-headed people who are to hard for even diamonds).  I've personally found solving puzzles as an enriching activity. 

Have a Hobby 

...to engage yourselves, to have something to do when everything else is done, or sometimes to have something to do when nothing else works! Any hobby does the trick. Most hobbies are not even productive. Do them anyway. You don't need to compete for the crown of the most melodious bubble-wrap-burster. Be your own audience. Just enjoy what you do, and do what you enjoy. Don't get a hobby, have a hobby.

Let me tell you a secret of life. Do learn what you need to survive. Do your job with all your heart, but don't stop there. Literature, painting, music, drama, sculpture, sports, make friends with either of these arts. Your job will make you survive, but the friendship with art will tell you why. - P. L. Deshpande

Nothing
...is more complicated than it seems! This is not watching TV, or reading celebrity gossips. Nothing means doing absolutely nothing. Just sitting and not thinking. Having no thoughts is the hardest state of mind. Give it a try, you will be surprised at how hard it is to no think anything! And if you do succeed, you will be even more pleasantly surprised at the results. Your thinking capacity suddenly multiplies itself (unless of course, it's zero to begin with. You won't even get the math in this idea then. Nor will you realize that this is the eleventh item on the list :P)

These things are great not only for your own good, they are even better for socializing. You will have the confidence, the knowledge, the expertise, and the memory to have so much to talk about. You'll have even more to think about. Your dreams will change. So will your aspirations.

Do think about updating your status while you do these things. Although not everyone needs (rather wants) to know what you're doing each moment of the day, there are a few sane people who are interested in interesting updates. May be, just may be, someone will pick up a thing or two. Someone will move away from virtual social networking and engage in actual social networking.

So this is just my list of things that anyone can do. You can contribute by adding things that I missed. Let's make our times worthwhile.