A Productive Waste Of Time

imme

I oftentimes struggle to find productive ways of wasting my time.

It is easy to fall into the realm of 'bread and circuses'.

Too much of my free time is taken up or given over to internet, television among other things.

Now that the new year is upon me I will look for productive ways to waste my time.

Obviously the new year doesn't have to be the time of making resolutions to change, you can chose to that at any time, on a monday, the start of the week, a friday, the end of the week.

It's up to you.

Anyone got any useful suggestions for new hobbies I could take up or how to spend my free time productively?

Akrasia

imme wrote: »

I oftentimes struggle to find productive ways of wasting my time.

It is easy to fall into the realm of 'bread and circuses'.

Too much of my free time is taken up or given over to internet, television among other things.

Now that the new year is upon me I will look for productive ways to waste my time.

Obviously the new year doesn't have to be the time of making resolutions to change, you can chose to that at any time, on a monday, the start of the week, a friday, the end of the week.

It's up to you.

Anyone got any useful suggestions for new hobbies I could take up or how to spend my free time productively?

Have children. You'll never have to worry about having free time again

me_irl

Learn a language.
Learn to draw / paint.
Learn to play an instrument.
Woodworking.
DIY.
Build a PC.
Read a book a week.

To name a few!

Duckworth_Luas

imme wrote: »

Anyone got any useful suggestions for new hobbies I could take up or how to spend my free time productively?

World of Warcraft!

I'm a level 60 wizard, women love me and men envy me.

Malayalam

Crochet.

Time passes, and at the end you have fantastic things..sometimes/ usually.
Here..this is a pattern I followed last year. Guaranteed to be a productive waste of time. You can listen to podcasts or youtube documentaries at the same time to be doubly productive and the resulting item is flipping awesome.
Scroll down for part 1 to start, choose your own colours and nice wool, agus ar aghaidh leat ansin....
http://www.crystalsandcrochet.com/crochet/category/mandala-madness/

KERSPLAT!

Reading would be one, something I'll hopefully be doing more often this year

s4uv3

I took into growing chilli plants a few years back. Really therapeutic and by summer you can have some fabulous plants and unreal colours. Not to mention the chillies

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Definitely reading non-fiction, which can lead to an interest in new topics.

Fishing, gardening, motor mechanics, bird watching, line dancing, golf, art, photography, exercise... the list is endless.

Hector Bellend

Have a ****.Ultimate waste of time

dxhound2005

Colson Plump Missile wrote: »

Definitely reading non-fiction, which can lead to an interest in new topics.

Fishing, gardening, motor mechanics, bird watching, line dancing, golf, art, photography, exercise... the list is endless.

And there is a whole world away from AH on Boards to have interesting discussions on all of these subjects. With no cruel Mods to interfere.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

dxhound2005 wrote: »

And there is a whole world away from AH on Boards to have interesting discussions on all of these subjects. With no cruel Mods to interfere.

No sure what you're getting at there.

Kevhog1988

I keep a few sheep

corner of hells

Get yourself a decent set of binoculars. It's good way of getting to know the neighbours.

Oldtree

KERSPLAT! wrote: »

Reading would be one, something I'll hopefully be doing more often this year

Double up, listen to an audiobook while doing somthing else with your hands. As suggested, crochet maby.

MyStubbleItches

theemigrant wrote: »

I keep a few sheep

Are you presuming OP is unmarried or otherwise unattached? Even so, probably illegal.

duvetdayss

MyStubbleItches wrote:

Are you presuming OP is unmarried or otherwise unattached? Even so, probably illegal.

Nope, he genuinely tends to a flock of sheep

duvetdayss

Yoga, reading, walks, knitting, baking, cooking.

I promise myself that I'll take a woodworking class at some point, would love to make something substantial myself

Archeron

Start a cult and get your followers to build you a spaceship

Four Phucs Ache

Get the area volume of your kitchen.
Work out how many skittles will fit.
Now, calculate the void of space remaining between each skittle.
Send an email to skittles highlighting the work, stress and sleepless nights involved in your task.
Await reply.

JimmyMcGill

Hector Bellend wrote: »

Have a ****.Ultimate waste of time

If you really want to waste time take up smoking.

MyStubbleItches

duvetdayss wrote: »

Nope, he genuinely tends to a flock of sheep

Tenderly?

DanMurphy

Don't know whether the OP is male / female, or his / her interests, but you have to be interested in something?
You'll know best yourself what suits.

When I retired I was in the same boat and I took up writing, as it's something I always wanted to do.
(How folks laughed when I told them I was writing a book!)

I've since written seven, and won an International Writing award two years ago.
(They don't laugh anymore!)

DanMurphy

DanMurphy wrote: »

Don't know whether the OP is male / female, or his / her interests, but you have to be interested in something?
You'll know best yourself what suits.

When I retired I was in the same boat and I took up writing, as it's something I always wanted to do.
(How folks laughed when I told them I was writing a book!)

I've since written seven, and won an International Writing award two years ago.
(They don't laugh anymore!)

Wowser! Congratulations and well done!

I think I'm great if I write a coherent shopping list.

DanMurphy

My point is, there's something everybody can do well and I suppose self motivation is the key that will 'unlock' us, or lack thereof will hold us back.

We ALL have a talent, of some description.

Maybe it's a hidden talent? Then, it's up to ourselves to find it.

Make 2018 a voyage of (self) discovery!
Go for it...

Some of us have hidden talents that are really, really well hidden.

El Tarangu

Oldtree wrote: »

Double up, listen to an audiobook while doing somthing else with your hands. As suggested, crochet maby.

Audiobooks are the business; I am studying for a degree in the evenings now, so I no longer have much time for reading for pleasure. But I listen to audiobooks when cooking or tidying up the house, its a good way to keep yourself motivated when doing these tasks, too.

All of which doesn't really apply to the OP's situation, but I just wanted to sing the praises of audiobooks

Junkyard Tom

Learn a bit of guerrilla horticulture and cultivate marijuana plants, never know, you could end up being a drug lord.

DanMurphy

Candie wrote: »

Some of us have hidden talents that are really, really well hidden.

Something... about hiding your talents under a bushel...?

imme

DanMurphy wrote: »

My point is, there's something everybody can do well and I suppose self motivation is the key that will 'unlock' us, or lack thereof will hold us back.

We ALL have a talent, of some description.

Maybe it's a hidden talent? Then, it's up to ourselves to find it.

Make 2018 a voyage of (self) discovery!
Go for it...

Thanks DanMurphy.

Congrats on your award.

"Good Luck With The Book!" - from Fr. Ted

_Roz_

Cross-stitching! Relaxing, productive and you have a nice piece of art at the end.

Your Face

You should take up an instrument.

^Why does that read like its something indecent?

DaeryssaOne

Malayalam wrote: »

Crochet.

Time passes, and at the end you have fantastic things..sometimes/ usually.
Here..this is a pattern I followed last year. Guaranteed to be a productive waste of time. You can listen to podcasts or youtube documentaries at the same time to be doubly productive and the resulting item is flipping awesome.
Scroll down for part 1 to start, choose your own colours and nice wool, agus ar aghaidh leat ansin....
http://www.crystalsandcrochet.com/crochet/category/mandala-madness/

This thread has inspired me to order a 'crochet for beginners' kit just now, need something to occupy my hands since quitting smoking and also tend to feel guilty if I'm just sitting in front of the tv all evening, figure this should hopefully be a nice distraction!

Sabre0001

Take a Udemy course
Practice something for x minutes a day
Crosswords

Malayalam

I've bought a clip on pedometer thingy, and my aim is 10,000 steps a day. Flipping heck, it uses up a fair bit of time to get to that number. I hope it is productive!!

Hector Bellend

imme

imme wrote: »

I oftentimes struggle to find productive ways of wasting my time.

Odd that I struggle to reduce the number of such things I do. Though I am determined 2018 is to be the year where I achieve it.