Schedule Your Free Time

Picture by Wong Mei Teng

 I often feel guilty when I'm relaxing, thinking that really I should be doing some of the work that I still have left. Usually that means my 'free time' is spent procrastinating, i.e. surfing the web or watching videos on TED.com. Those could and would be relaxing activities, if I wasn't doing them in the process of procrastinating. Because I'm putting off something I ought to be doing instead, that something is constantly zooming around my mind preventing me from fully enjoying my leisure time.
 One of the tricks I picked up from The Now Habit by Neil Fiore (Amazon Link) is to schedule my free time as well as my work time. I don't leave gaps in my schedule to relax, I schedule the activities I want to do just as much as the ones I have to do.

When you're thinking of what you HAVE TO do today, spend some time evaluating each activity. How long will it take? Is it really necessary? Can you group it with another activity to make it more efficient?
Now think of everything you WANT TO do. Is there someone you'd like to spend time with? Is there a show you'd love to see? Is there a craft project sitting idle?

Now go over all the hours in your day, and try to create a healthy balance between your work-time and your relaxing time. If you follow the schedule, you'll know that you deserved every activity of fun because you've also spent plenty of time working hard. It will get rid of that nagging feeling of guilt that can ruin even the best moments.
Now's the time to revive those hobbies you never seem to have time for. Even if it's only for an hour.

What's the best work-to-play ratio? It depends on your priorities, your line of work, your responsibilities at home, your stress levels, etc. It also depends on how you label certain activities. Do you enjoy exercising? Or is it more like a job for you? What about cooking?

What activities have you put off because you should be working instead? What do you do when you procrastinate? Do you enjoy those activities?