Spare time is important to us— the less of it we have, the more valuable it becomes. How many of us make good use of our free time? It can be enjoyable to watch hours of our favorite television series instead of being productive, but that enjoyment comes with little benefit. Instead, your free time can be used to explore your interests, strengthen your resume, and even make a little extra money. If you want to convert your lazy afternoons into a profitable investment of your time, here are 5 useful things you can do.
Coding
It seems intimidating— whether you learn HTML and CSS or Python, it can be a tedious process. Similar to learning a foreign language, you have to learn about symbols, abbreviations, the meanings of certain words, and the correct order and structure of words and symbols. Luckily, once you know the basics, it gets easier and the possibilities are endless. With a basic knowledge of coding, you can learn data scraping, chatbot development, and even build a website from scratch.
Adobe Suite
With more than 20 tools and programs to choose from, Adobe can help you create anything you want. You can master a single program or learn a little about each of them. Whether you want to learn for fun or for work purposes, you can be an indispensable resource for photo editing, graphic design, or even digital magazine creation.
Photography
In today’s world, everyone takes pictures of everything— just not always good pictures. Learning a few things about photography can dramatically change how your pictures look. You can use anything from a DSLR camera to the camera on your phone. Whatever you choose to use, you will be able to document moments in a more visually-appealing way.
New Language
Some people want to learn a new language to seem more sophisticated and intelligent, some use it for travelling the world, and some use it to get ahead in the business world. Whatever reason you have for wanting to learn a new language, or for not wanting to learn a new language, the benefits reach beyond having an expanded vocabulary. Learning a new language has many cognitive benefits— you can score higher on standardized tests, become more observant, and have a better memory.
Excel
Spreadsheets are used for pretty close to everything these days. Most ordinary people use it for organizing data and creating lists, but there are so many more ways it can be utilized. You can make use of hundreds of functions, like creating charts, task lists, project management charts, making calculations, and analyzing data. Excel can do more than you can imagine, and learning how to use it can help you both at work and home.
While this is not, by any means, a comprehensive list of all the useful things you can learn about, these items will be a lot more useful than your knowledge of every television series known to man. So, get out there and use your hard-earned free time to find new interests— and get ahead.
Guest article written by: Morgen Henderson