Turn your free time into fruitful experiences that will help you grow and experience more as an individual.

10. Read
Whether you want to read an entire book or just a short article from a magazine, reading shapes people’s minds and thinking processes. For example, most books seem long and tedious to read, but that is because those people are not good at summarizing and speed reading. You do not have to read word-for-word to acquire knowledge, just by focusing on the main idea gives you a general understanding of the content presented to you.

9. Play games
Not only does playing games improve your social skills and quality time you spend with friends and family, it also helps you think. Whether you are playing a spelling-based game like scrabble or a business-based game like monopoly, or even video games, which helps improve your hand-eye coordination, you increase your cognitive skills and thinking patterns which help you become smarter and grow as an individual.

8. Listen to music
Not only have there been studies proving that listening to classical music makes you smarter, but it can inspire you to do things that you have never done before, or looking at an occasion from a new perspective. For example, listening to the lyrics of “Imagine” may make you wonder why the world is the way it is, or listening to antiwar songs such as Metallica’s “One” may spark an interest in becoming a political activist.

7. Daydream
While dreaming does not sound very productive, many of the great inventions and processes were though up just by dreaming about “How can I do this better?” or “Could this be done differently?”

6. Rest & nap
Along with dreaming, resting does not sound productive. But if you give yourself just a 30-minute nap, you will be able to rejuvenate energy lost earlier in the day and are enabled to perform important tasks more efficiently.

5. Exercise
Even if you only exercise for a brief period of time each day, the work will add up and your health will improve. Taking a walk around the block or doing 20 sit-ups will assist you in achieving various goals, such as losing some weight or increasing your endurance.

4. Work on a hobby
Not only can you have fun participating in an activity you enjoy, but you can turn your hobby into a successful business if you decide to become an expert in its field and you understand basic business principles.

3. Surf the web
There is a vast amount of information available on the internet and you will most likely be surprised at the new things you can learn in just a few minutes online.

2. Write your thoughts
This can be a great money maker, for example one day I thought about creating a website about top ten lists, so here it is making money for me with programs like affiliate links. Maybe by just writing a few of your thoughts down will put you on the path to becoming the next Leonardo DaVinci.

1. Ask people if they need help
If you cannot or do not want to do anything with yourself during your free time, you can always help others. Your family may need help around the house or you could volunteer at local businesses, but no matter who you help, chances are they will appreciate the time you take to assist them.

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