Free Time?!

I’ve officially been out of school for a week now and I’ve noticed something interesting about my schedule.

For the first time in five months, I actually have some free time.

It’s a little odd; I’ve been working more hours at the store, and that keeps me plenty busy. But when I come home at night, I find myself at a loss. I have no homework, no reading, no nothing. So just what in the hell am I supposed to do with this free time?!

I guess I should explain that I’m an easily distracted person. Unless I’m fully committed to something (work, school, relationship, etc.), I get easily bored and am looking for something else to do. I have never had a hobby that has actually stuck with me for life. As much as it pains me to say it, that includes reading.

Don’t get me wrong – I’ve definitely been trying to read more in my three week break from school. During the semester, I have difficulties in finding time to actually read something I enjoy. I have noticed, though, that when I read during my free time, I get super bored super easily. And that’s a tad frustrating.

Additionally, I live close enough to my boyfriend that we often spend our free weeknights together. That occupies a decent chunk of my time, but we don’t spend every single waking moment together. So when I have absolutely, 100%, completely unscheduled free time…I have no freaking clue what to do with myself.

I’ve spent most of tonight trying to figure out some different things I could do, besides just reading or watching TV, when I find myself spending a night alone. I managed to come up with a few things that may help stave off the boredom I may face in the next few weeks before summer classes start.

• My Music Listography book.  I bought this book at Target quite a while ago, and when I first got it, I couldn’t wait to fill it out! It’s page after page of listing different bands and songs that have provided the soundtrack to my life – favorite songs, favorite bands, favorite music by decade, memorable moments in music, a song for every lover I’ve had, songs I would dedicate to my friends…this book is amazing. I had forgotten about it for quite a while, but I found it again after my recent move to my new apartment. I filled it out a little this afternoon, but I’d like to spend some more time with it tonight and perhaps rediscover some music I’ve forgotten.
• Paint my nails.  This is a huge one, and a little bit of a no-brainer. I have an extensive nail polish collection (too extensive for someone who doesn’t actually own a nail salon), and I love giving myself manicures at home. I will for sure be doing this tomorrow when I have the entire day off…after I do the next thing on my “stave off boredom” list.
• Clean the house.  As long as I can get myself started on cleaning, it takes almost no energy to clean my entire place. I haven’t done it as of yet because, frankly, I haven’t been home long enough in one day to actually do it. However, I happen to have a special guest coming over for a sleepover on Saturday, and I want my place to look nice and squeaky clean! Plus, let’s face it, who doesn’t feel better after spending a day just cleaning up and then relaxing in a clean house? Just me? Yeah, ok.
• Read more than one book at a time.  This might sound a little crazy, but I think this actually does help when it comes to not getting bored or easily distracted when reading just one book. If I am reading a couple of different books at once, I can switch back & forth between them if I need a break from one of them. I’m currently in the middle of Insurgent (but really, how good was Divergent?!), and I think I’d like to start up on an old classic that I’ve never read, like The Three Musketeers or Les Miserables. I guess we’ll see!
• Exercise.  I am sorry to say that I only thought of this after watching my roommate go out to complete her diligent daily running. I love to run, and I really miss it sometimes, but it is tough for me to exercise or go out for a run towards the end of the day. I should get back into the habit of doing it no matter what time of day it is, and especially if I find myself bored with nothing else for me to do.

So…that’s kind of all I came up with for tonight. If anyone else has any suggestions or things they like to do when they find themselves with all kinds of free time, feel free to leave some comments!