I doubt many of you are much different than me.

People value time over money, but I don’t always make very good use of my free time. As a freelancer, I have more free time than most people, and yet I used to spend almost all of it on YouTube, eating too much food and sleeping.

Productivity culture dictates we should be working and focused on gaining money 24/7. I’ve learned you can disagree with this notion and still get shit done.

I value my free time, but I make myself spend hours of it improving my life. It doesn’t matter when these hours are, but they need to happen in order for me to enjoy my life to the fullest. I need to make progress. If you’re feeling stagnant, adding a life-improvement hour to your weekly routine may help you get moving again. One hour/week is a great place to start.

If you don’t use your free time wisely, you’ll have less of it.

I have a lovely writing contract at the moment that pays all my bills. Many of my writer friends have lost their similar contracts recently, and I’ve become a bit too comfortable with mine. It may very well disappear next month, and with it, my free time will disappear too.

You may be in a similar position.

Perhaps people are getting laid off left and right at your place of employment and you’re starting to feel insecure. Even if your career and personal life are going swimmingly, maybe you’ve been left wanting more from life lately.

By prioritizing using your free time to focus on bettering your life, you will save yourself free time in the future.

You won’t be as stressed should something go wrong.

I like to set aside a few hours every couple of days to look for more ways to make money, improve my health, and be happier. By doing this, I am protecting what I currently have while also looking to grow. There is such a thing as becoming “too comfortable”. Let this serve as your reminder to solidify your future happiness by putting in an hour of work during the calmer periods of your present life.

I cringe when I look back at the person I was two years ago.

I’m sure you are cringing, too. We are meant to improve the longer we live. Toddlers grow into fully functioning members of society; it’s amazing!

What do you think future you will shake their head at current you for doing?

Are you spending all of your free time on zero-sum activities such as content consumption? Would you be better off next year doing something right now?

It’s a lot of pressure, trying to be a better person next year by taking action now. No one wants that kind of pressure. That’s why setting a timer for an hour a week or whatever amount of time you’re willing to dedicate to improvement is so great. You are telling yourself a step needs to be taken and you are slowly dedicating time towards taking the action.

It’s far more improvement than you would’ve made without dedicating the time and energy.

Set a timer, build a routine.

Make the changes.

If you fall off the wagon, get back on. Be kind to your future self. Make their life easier and more fun. Consider it an investment in yourself.

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