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Free time essay

Free time essay 7 models

Last updated Friday , 15-03-2024 on 11:57 am

Free time essay  contains many important information about how to use leisure time and the importance of time and things that we can accomplish in leisure time to get the most out of it. All that information you’ll find here in free time essay.

Free time essay

There is no doubt that everyone has a free time daily, weekly or monthly, but we must use this time to develop ourselves and do not waste it in vain. All this will be found here in free time essay .

Leisure time

D uring life, man needs to spend many times in carrying out the necessary tasks required of him to implement them. After completing these works, he has leisure time, ranging from one person to another depending on the different situations and actions that people do in their day and night.

Leisure is a real blessing for those who use it well.  It is a vengeance for those who live in a messy life, filled with illiteracy, a life that destroys the man and makes him live into misery.

The first step in investing leisure time in the right way is to define a goal or a set of clearly defined goals that a person seeks to achieve during his life.

These goals are the main motive that drives the person to set priorities to build his character, organize his time, exploit his abilities, and so on, Which ultimately makes it possible to view leisure as a blessing, not just a time to be filled with any activity.

Man must also use his free time to practice his hobbies and set a schedule for these hobbies at this time. The hobbies keep people away from bad companions, and the different kinds of deviations that may destroy the human, and hinder him from completing his life, and wasting his time in vain.

Taking care of the spiritual aspects, and trying to use leisure time to develop these aspects is the best way to exploit leisure time.

Attention to these aspects helps the human to rise and achieve the highest human grades. It is also necessary to pay attention in leisure time to the social aspects that need to be followed, especially that man is a social being by nature.

Free Time Essay in English

I like to use my spare time to do the work and the planned goals. I always use the method of writing, whether for my future desires, or the goals I expect to achieve. This helps me a lot in progressing and getting good results, whether in personal life or in studies.

When I set plans and goals, I cannot be easily distracted, and all that is required is to see my goals and strive to achieve them, according to the time period required to achieve this goal. I can say that I plan my free time in three stages.

The first stage

Setting quick goals, such as cleaning my room, buying clothes, going to the library, in the first stage I put everything that is simple and requires a short time such as hours or only one day.

The second stage

In the second stage, I set goals that require me more time, such as participating in a competition that requires work for a week or a month, or participating in a social activity that requires a long time.

The third stage

In the third stage I set my big goals such as saving money to buy a car, working to save money first, looking for opportunities for self-development and self-improvement such as learning a new foreign language, participating in hobbies that require continuous work such as theater art, or playing an instrument.

Therefore, I always spend my free time as planned and rarely improvise and deviate from the system that I love to live through.

My free time essay

Of course, my free time at this age has become more important, and I am organizing my time, setting goals and plans, and making a short, medium and long study of how to spend my free time, so that I can enjoy beside learning some new things.

So that I can return to study stronger and more experienced. I have an ambition to become a doctor, and in order to achieve this dream, I must strive and struggle and organize my spare time, whether to learn some new lessons or to learn some manual skills that may benefit me in the future.

So I put in my short goals to visit relatives, go out for a walk and do some sports to release negative energy. And in the medium goals I put going to the library at the end of the week to retrieve a book and get a new book, participate in a one-month educational course, learn a new language or focus on learning some quick skills

In long missions, I put training in the use of sensitive and precise tools, such as sharp tools used in surgeries. I like to practice using the scalpel in slicing the thin layer on the grapes. This helps me a lot in practicing the accuracy of my hand.

Of course, this dream did not come true, and I will not become a doctor now, but any dream begins with believing in it. So I devote my free time to benefit from it and learn useful things that may benefit me in the future.

Essay about free time

Leisure time is a favorite of many people, and it can be said that each person has his own nature to spend free time as he likes.

There are those who like to go out and celebrate or share some activities with their friends, or sit at home and sleep or do some quiet and simple things.

After long days of effort in studying, each person needs some requirements that make him regain his energy and feel better.

Activities I do in my spare time

1- Take a little walk alone in the early morning, jog a little, sit in the garden and watch the birds and the life that goes by and walks around me.

2- Touring the shops and seeing some new goods that I might want to buy.

3- Walking around in the evening with my friends, eating meals and soft drinks, talking and having a little fun.

In the event that any volunteer work appears in the area, I would very much like to participate in it and get to know some new people and talk to them, such as simple work cleaning gardens, cleaning the neighborhood in which we live, going to a nursing home for the elderly, going to the children’s hospital.

Such activities I like to do very much beside my normal life that I live so that I can appreciate life and know the blessings that I have and appreciate them and thank God for them.

Free time and hobbies essay

Free time is one of the favorite times for all students and they love to spend happy times and do some hobbies, whether sports or entertainment. Where the free time in the holidays comes after a long semester, it requires them to focus and diligence, prepare a lot of homework, and undergo many tests that stress and make them anxious for a long time.

Therefore, the student’s free time represents the opportunity to rejuvenate his activity, charge his body with energy, and release all the negative energy inside him. It is a good opportunity to relax and spend some time practicing hobbies.

Personally, I like to jog and play soccer. All the games that require long-distance running and the release of great energy. This helps me release the negative energy inside me and renews my activity and vitality.

I also like to go out in the evening, take a walk, and play electronic games with my friends, in order to relieve myself a little and feel a little relaxation that takes me away from stress and tension.

This is how I spend my free time and this helps me a lot. There may be other people who prefer different types of mathematics, but this is my favorite and I like to practice it a lot.

Free time paragraph in English

It is wonderful that there is free time away from study and constant mental effort. I often feel that the holidays and the free time I spend playing sports, or playing some electronic games have come in their time, and that I need to relax and stop thinking, even for a little bit.

It also allows us to return to society, mingle and learn some things away from constant study, go out for a walk and smell some fresh air, make friends, and live normally for some time before returning to study and strive for self-realization in this aspect.

So I enjoy a lot when my free time comes, whether in sports or outing and making new friends, or just playing electronic games, that’s how I spend my free time.

What do you do in your free time essay

In my spare time, I like to organize my day from morning to evening. In the morning, after waking up and having breakfast with my family members, I like to sit a little in the living room with my family members and watch any series or morning program, and talk to each other a little bit until the afternoon period comes.

Then, I get ready to go out to play football, I like to play this sport a lot with my team and friends, we keep playing and training until the early evening.

After that I go home and sit for a little while until 8 in the evening and then I go out for a walk with my friends. I am very happy with that because I learn from them many things that help me increase my confidence in myself, and I also learn things that help define my identity.

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Essay on What Do You Do in Your Free Time

Students are often asked to write an essay on What Do You Do in Your Free Time in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on What Do You Do in Your Free Time

Introduction.

Free time is when you can indulge in activities that you love. It’s a time to relax, explore, and grow.

Reading Books

I love reading books in my free time. They take me to different worlds and help me learn new things.

Playing Sports

Playing sports is another activity I enjoy. It keeps me fit and teaches me teamwork.

Free time is precious. It’s important to spend it on activities that make you happy and help you grow as a person.

250 Words Essay on What Do You Do in Your Free Time

Free time, often referred to as leisure time, is a period when one is not engaged in obligatory activities such as work, domestic chores, or education. It is a time for relaxation, hobbies, and personal growth. How one utilizes this time can significantly influence their mental well-being, physical health, and overall life satisfaction.

Reading and Learning

One of the ways I spend my free time is through reading. Books offer a wealth of knowledge, insights, and perspectives that can be transformative. They serve as a window to different cultures, philosophies, and scientific advancements, fostering intellectual growth.

Physical Activity

Physical activity is another essential aspect of my leisure time. Engaging in regular exercise, whether it’s a brisk walk, yoga, or a gym workout, helps maintain physical health and boosts mental well-being. It’s a great way to de-stress and rejuvenate.

Creative Pursuits

Creativity also plays a significant role in my free time. Whether it’s painting, writing, or playing a musical instrument, these activities provide an outlet for self-expression and innovation. They can be therapeutic, fulfilling, and contribute to personal development.

Social Engagement

Lastly, I value social interactions. Spending quality time with family and friends, participating in community activities, or volunteering for a cause can foster a sense of belonging, enhance interpersonal skills, and contribute to societal well-being.

In conclusion, the manner in which we spend our free time can greatly influence our overall quality of life. For me, a balance between intellectual stimulation, physical activity, creative expression, and social engagement serves as an ideal way to utilize this precious time.

500 Words Essay on What Do You Do in Your Free Time

Free time, often referred to as leisure time, is a period when one is not engaged in obligatory activities such as work, domestic chores, or education. It is a time that can be used for rest, recreation, or self-directed activities. This essay explores what I do in my free time and the significance of these activities.

The Power of Reading

One of my favorite pastimes is reading. Whether it’s a classic novel, a scientific paper, or a thought-provoking article, reading is an activity that stimulates my mind and broadens my understanding of the world. It is an escape from the routine and a journey into the minds of others. Reading allows me to explore different perspectives, improving my empathy and understanding of diverse cultures and ideologies.

Engaging in Physical Activities

Physical activity is another essential component of my leisure time. Whether it’s jogging in the park, participating in a yoga class, or playing a game of soccer with friends, physical activity provides a much-needed break from the sedentary nature of academic life. It not only keeps me physically fit but also improves my mental health by reducing stress and anxiety. Physical activity is a form of active relaxation that allows me to rejuvenate and prepare for the next bout of focused work.

In my free time, I also engage in various creative pursuits. I believe that creativity is a muscle that needs regular exercise. Whether it’s painting, writing, or playing a musical instrument, these activities provide a creative outlet for self-expression. They foster innovation and problem-solving skills, which are crucial in both personal and professional life.

Volunteering and Social Engagement

Volunteering is another activity that occupies my free time. By helping others, I not only contribute to my community but also gain a sense of fulfillment and purpose. Whether it’s tutoring underprivileged children, participating in a neighborhood cleanup, or supporting a local charity, volunteering fosters a sense of community and interconnectedness.

In conclusion, free time is a valuable resource that offers a respite from the demands of academic life. It provides an opportunity to engage in activities that enrich our lives, broaden our perspectives, and contribute to our well-being. Whether it’s reading, physical activity, creative pursuits, or volunteering, what we do in our free time shapes our identity, values, and character. It’s important to use this time wisely, pursuing activities that bring joy, fulfillment, and personal growth.

That’s it! I hope the essay helped you.

If you’re looking for more, here are essays on other interesting topics:

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Deana Shevit Goldin, Ph.D., DNP, APRN

Making Better Use of Your Free Time

What are time affluence, time famine, and time confetti.

Posted December 16, 2021 | Reviewed by Michelle Quirk

  • Flexible work schedules may create a promise of time affluence, but, in reality, work may take over, leaving us with time famine.
  • We sometimes feel guilty for outsourcing domestic tasks; when it’s affecting our mental health, there’s nothing wrong with buying back some time.
  • Make a “time confetti to-do list,” so that when you find yourself with a spare moment, you know what to do.

Since the start of the pandemic, our perception of time has shifted. For many of us, working, schooling, and spending much more time at home have made it harder to create good containers for our time.

The great promise of flexible work schedules is that they create a feeling of time affluence, and, yet, in reality, flexible work often means that work takes over, leaving us with a feeling of time famine. This lack of balance puts us into a vicious cycle of overworking, burning out, and then giving into our exhaustion and feeling guilty about not overworking.

On a recent episode of the Happiness Lab podcast , Dr. Laurie Santos and Dan Harris talk about science-backed strategies for breaking this cycle. If this topic resonates with you, I recommend listening to the full episode. In what follows, I share some key insights about the psychology of time.

Time Affluence vs. Time Famine

Before we get into some tips to boost your feelings of abundance around your time, we need to better understand what social scientists mean when they talk about time affluence and time famine.

Time affluence is your subjective sense that you have free time. It’s having a state of mind that you’re “wealthy” in terms of your time. Since this is a subjective measure, it can be decoupled from the hours, minutes, and seconds you objectively have, which means that, at least in theory, even people with extreme demands on their time can experience time affluence.

Time famine is just the opposite of time affluence. It’s the feeling you get when you are starved for time. And what’s particularly interesting here is that, from a psychological perspective, time famine works similarly to hunger famine. For example, scientists see evidence of stress on the body in time-famished people.

One survey published by the Harvard Business Review even found that experiencing time famine had more of a negative impact on well-being than being unemployed. You can get a sense of this when you imagine having a full day of back-to-back meetings, a looming project deadline, and a commitment to attend your son's or daughter's soccer game after school, and your supervisor asks to schedule one-on-one time with you.

In the above situation, your nervous system will be activated—you may even be feeling on edge just reading this description.

Strategies for Gaining Time Affluence

So what can we do to gain a sense of time affluence? According to Dr. Laurie Santos, professor of psychology at Yale University, director of Yale's Comparative Cognition Lab, and host of the Happiness Lab podcast, it’s all about intentionality.

Here are three strategies Santos suggests for gaining time affluence:

1. Invest in time-saving. If you’re fortunate enough to have some disposable income, you could be directing more of those funds toward saving yourself time. Think of all the ways you could invest in time-saving:

  • You could hire the teen next door to help out.
  • You could get a meal service subscription or hire someone to do meal prep for you once a week.
  • You could hop on a Web site like Taskrabbit and hire someone to put up your holiday decorations.
  • You could use an errand service to buy holiday gifts you’ve chosen or to wrap those gifts.

Although we sometimes feel guilty for outsourcing domestic tasks, when it’s affecting our mental health, there’s nothing wrong with buying back some time.

2. Reframe the subtler time-saving things you’re already doing. In addition to the larger investments in time-saving, we often naturally spend money in subtler ways to gain back time. For example, you might order takeout once a week. But are you acknowledging that you’re saving time by doing so?

The next time you order takeout, instead of simply consuming the food while checking your email, savor the time savings. Remind yourself that you’re putting time back into your schedule by not having to spend an hour or two cooking and cleaning up.

3. Make sure you’re making good use of the free time you have. Here’s a surprising statistic: We actually have objectively more free time now than we did 15 to 20 years ago. If your schedule is anything like mine, you likely find that pretty hard to believe. But it’s true. The difference is that we feel busier now than we did in the early 2000s.

essay on free time

So why all the stress around our time? Time budgets look different today than they did 15 years ago. Whereas we used to have more big blocks of time off, now we have what Santos calls “time confetti.” We get five minutes between meetings or 10 minutes waiting in the carpool line to pick up the kids from school.

What do we do with these little moments of free time? We take out the devices we have glued to our sides 24/7 and check our email or scroll through the same feed we just checked 30 minutes ago. Of course we’re time-starved.

If you want to feel less time-strapped, make sure you’re making good use of the free time you have. Make a “time confetti to-do list,” so that when you find yourself with a spare moment, you know what to do.

Here are strategies Santos suggests for gaining time affluence:

  • Focus on controlling your breath. Breathe in for a slow count of five, then breathe out for a slow count of five.
  • Write in a gratitude journal.
  • Get up and stretch.
  • Go for a quick walk.

These little moments can really add up throughout the day if we use them well.

The key to breaking the cycle of overworking and burnout is to change the way we think about time. It might take some practice, but cultivating time affluence will put you into a happier cycle this holiday season and beyond!

Deana Shevit Goldin, Ph.D., DNP, APRN

Deana Goldin, Ph.D., DNP, APRN, is an associate clinical professor at Florida International University and an integrative psychiatric and family nurse practitioner.

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50 Latest Free time IELTS Topics

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essay on free time

Free Time: IELTS Discussion Essay Model Answer.

In this post, we will look at a discussion essay example Free Time: IELTS Writing Task 2 Discussion Essay Band 8 sample answer. Some people prefer to plan activities for their free time very carefully. Others disagree. Discuss both views and give your opinion. Take a look at the model answer from the IELTS writing task 2 test.

Students often ask if the questions are repeated year after year and the answer is no, but the topics are. There are so many questions written each year, you may find your practice answering various questions on different topics. For example, you could write essays to answer questions about education or the environment, which benefits you because you learn vocabulary associated with those topics and develop ideas that can help you in your writing test. Practising writing IELTS task 2 essays on a range of topics is a great way to learn new vocabulary for those topics, but also to practice your essay structures. You begin to develop your ideas around those topics, thinking of examples and giving your opinions.

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If you would like to learn how to structure a discussion essay please click the button below:

How to write a discussion essay

Take a look at the IELTS Discussion Essay example below:

Some people prefer to plan activities for their free time very carefully. whereas others think that it is a waste of time. Discuss both views and give your opinion.

Take a look at the model answer.

Many people consider organizing events wisely during their extra time while some think otherwise. This essay believes that planning activities tend to be more successful versus unplanned ones. Firstly, this essay will discuss why people would allow time in planning an event and secondly, the reasons behind acting spontaneously.

On the one hand, planning is essential for any activity. Many people would want to plan their vacations because it requires time and budget in order to make it successful. There are a lot of activities available, which one can enjoy during our free time but we need to consider our working schedules, therefore we need to plan ahead of time. For instance, an article by the Travel Tours Magazine in the Philippines in 2015 reported that you could save as much as 45% off all vacation expenses if you schedule and plan your vacation trips ahead of time.

On the other hand, there is quite a number of people who enjoy being spontaneous. The enjoyment of living in the moment without thinking about anything is appealing to many. Sometimes planned activities get cancelled because of problems that may arise along the way and this is the reason why someone would take the chance and do things without any hesitations. For example, a survey by the University of the Philippines in 2015 revealed that 89% of the student correspondents would choose to experience an unplanned vacation rather than a planned one for they believe that it’s more exciting and less stressful.

In my opinion, I believe that to plan an activity is crucial to making an event successful. We need to consider the availability of the persons involved as well as the amount of money needed. This practice can also save money on the prices, as they are a lot cheaper if there is more time provided for the supplier to produce their products or services. For instance, a report by the Philippines Airlines in 2016 showed that airline tickets were 25% cheaper if you bought 6 months before your flight.

In conclusion, planning provides benefits. We should plan ahead because it can give us enough time to think of other strategies if our plan encounters problems.

(Word count – 366 / Band score 8)

Instructor Feedback on IELTS Discussion Essay: Free Time

Task Achievement  – The essay provides an answer to the question asked, supported by relevant examples.

Coherence and Cohesion  – The answer has been divided into clear logical paragraphs and each main body paragraph only has one main idea. There are cohesive links between the main body paragraphs .

Lexical Resource  – There is evidence of a wide range of vocabulary, with no errors in the text.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy  – The answer has no grammatical errors. The sentences have a wide range of structures. 

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About Free Time

Hugh hunter wonders if we’re always free in our use of our free time..

I first noticed the problem of free time when I was vacationing at an acquaintance’s cottage by a lake in northern Canada. It was a warm, sunny day, and as we watched, motorboats crisscrossed the lake, even though it was small enough that they could go from one side to the other in less than twenty minutes. But back and forth they went. One fellow was so diligent that he put in almost a full eight hours crisscrossing. It looked like work, I thought. If he had been delivering packages from one end of the lake to the other, it would have been work. And yet it wasn’t work; it was his free time.

The German social philosopher Theodor Adorno (1903-69) had already observed what I was discovering – that, like a shadow, free time points to an absence rather than a presence. Free time is the absence of work. More specifically, it is the absence of work you would prefer not to have to do. Speeding back and forth across a small lake comes to have meaning by reference to what it isn’t: it isn’t bending your will to the will of your employer.

If the economy collapsed tomorrow, would you go back to your office and keep working anyway? If not, then we might say that what you do is not completely aligned with your agency. Free time is about realigning what you do with what you want to do – realigning act with agency.

What bugged Adorno to the point of motivating him to give a lecture on ‘ Freizeit ’ was people asking him about his hobbies. Adorno was honest enough to understand why most academics don’t have hobbies: they are already doing what they want to be doing. Act and agency already align.

There are a few categories of people who don’t have much use for free time in a similar way. Artists, craftsmen, aristocrats, entrepreneurs, and executives never really stop working. To be good at any of these things requires a belief that what you are doing is worthwhile in itself.

The fortunate few who want to do the work they have to do are more than balanced out by the 37% (in one UK poll) who believe that their jobs don’t “make a meaningful contribution to the world.”

That poll question was pulled out of David Graeber’s cri de coeur , On the Phenomenon of Bullshit Jobs (2013). Graeber wrote about what he calls the ‘bullshitization’ of work: the trend toward jobs that no reasonable person would think worth doing. Graeber invites us to imagine the bleak lives of those who believe their careers make no positive difference to the world. If it isn’t you, it’s someone you know. Take the box ticker as representative of the kind. Many of us have to fill out reams of paperwork in pursuit of metrics (and in apparent ignorance of Goodhart’s law on the futility of such metrics). In their turn, many of the people inflicting this paperwork on us realize how pointless it is but are powerless to do anything about it.

The fellow in the boat does not seem so unreasonable if we imagine him as a frustrated box ticker. The physical power of the action of driving at high speed is the shadow of his powerlessness at the office. And yet it does not seem right or fitting to balance one meaningless thing with another. We ask, with W.H. Auden, Is that all the rebellion?

Sailing Away

Time For Freedom

Part of the problem with free time is philosophical. We imagine that what makes us free is having alternatives. This is what philosophers sometimes call the ‘freedom of spontaneity’. It’s the freedom you have at the beginning of a chess game: there are many opening moves, and you can pick whichever one of them you prefer. But let’s say you’ve picked a strategy, and as you put it into action you come to a situation where the only move available is the one you planned. In making that move are you still free? This was the strategy you wanted, and you got it. Does it matter that there are no longer alternatives?

To put the point another way, imagine that you and I are playing chess, but add to this that you are supremely observant, a modern-day Sherlock Holmes. From only a few minutes in my company you can tell what sort of game I’m going to play. Now, even before your first move, your range of openings is narrowed, since there are certain strategies you know it’ll be pointless to deploy against me.

Change the scenario one more time: your mind is now godlike. You know exactly what sort of game I’m going to play. You can now see the very best play to defeat me. So even from the opening move your range of rationally possible games narrows to one. But if it is the case that the smarter you are, the fewer options you have, maybe we shouldn’t put such a high value on freedom of spontaneity. Maybe instead freedom is compatible with being smart enough to recognize that in many situations there is no choice.

Now free time is seen as being all about choice: it’s about choosing pretty much anything to do so long as we choose it and our boss doesn’t. If choice doesn’t really make us free, however, we can start to understand a puzzling phenomenon. A lot of people say that if they won the lottery, they’d be free and would stop working. But most lottery winners don’t leave their jobs. As Shakespeare’s Prince Hal says, “If all the year were playing holidays / To sport would be as tedious as to work.”

Freedom Through Leisure

If we want to get from free time to genuine freedom, the absence of work is not enough. Freedom comes from within – or so thought the Stoic master Epictetus (55-135 AD), who pointed out that most of the world will never be under our control. What we can control are our minds and attitudes. Epictetus considered himself liberated by this principle, and here he could speak with authority. You may be a wage slave, but he was a real slave.

‘Be like Epictetus, and seek only to control your mind and attitude’ is not easy advice to follow. Great philosophers can show us ways of understanding the world, but working through the implications of the understanding can be a lifelong task even for them.

Adorno thought that free time as defined in opposition to work would be swept away by the Marxist revolution that would yield the workers’ paradise. Actual ‘workers’ paradises’ in Russia, China, Cambodia and North Korea don’t exactly inspire confidence… but I’ll admit I’m sympathetic to Adorno’s apocalyptic instinct. We Christians got there first, and I think it’s safe to say that a 100% reduction in bullshit jobs is implicit in the Bible’s prediction of the New Jerusalem. But even if you agree with Adorno’s Marxist vision, or even if you agree with me, paradise isn’t going to solve the problem for us in the short term.

In his introduction to his ‘Free Time’ lecture, Adorno briefly mentions a contrasting term: leisure ( Muße ). It’s very bourgeois, not at all his speed, and he says very little about it. But to be a man of leisure is, as the Romans thought, to be in the condition of libertas – freedom. And here we may find that the art, or rather, the arts, of freedom, have been right under our noses all along. I mean of course the liberal arts. These are courses of study and lifelong contemplation that promise to make you, not into a second Epictetus, but into Epictetus’ student and companion; and the student of the liberal arts gains all the other great thinkers as further teachers and companions too.

The liberal arts are sometimes called disciplines, and to study them does require a certain self-discipline. This self-disciplined ordering of your mind is the price of admittance to the great conversation about what matters. It’s not just that the conversation contains many answers to questions about how to live. Engaging in the conversation, contemplating the structure of the world, is liberating in that it is a goal that is satisfying in itself, a resting point for the mind which does not require a counterbalance in work. There’s room for freedom here even if you don’t have a lot of free time. Let’s grant that with work and other obligations, the domain of actual human freedom is a tiny, circumscribed plot of land. The liberal arts can be manuals for gardening in those small spaces.

© Hugh Hunter 2019

Hugh Hunter is a philosopher, and can be found at www.jhughhunter.com.

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  • Theodor Adorno and Free Time

The concepts of “free time and leisure time” and the terms of “hobbies and interests” have become irreplaceable and essential parts of our daily lives and found a permanent place in our dialogues recently.

Based upon the notion of free time, Theodor Wiesengrund Adorno, who is a German philosopher, sociologist, psychologist, musicologist, and a leading member of The Institute for Social Research or Frankfurt School which is established at The University of Frankfurt, brings a new perspective to our understanding of the terms such as free time, freedom, boredom, etc. from his anti-capitalist worldview through his widely accepted essay, “Free Time” essentially. [1]

He also criticizes the perception of free time that capitalism or any dominant power structures of societies regulate and manage obviously. Influenced most notably by Hegel, Marx, and Nietzsche, Adorno is one of the most prominent philosophers of the 20th century.

At the very beginning of his essay, Adorno clarifies the difference between the notions of free time and leisure time by emphasizing that the expression of free time or spare time has emerged recently and the term of leisure time, (Muβe) which means an unrestricted, comfortable way of life, is the precursor of them.

However, he claims that “Free time is shackled to its opposite” (pg.187) and points out that it is not a fact as many people tend to interpret it and adds that it relies on the social conditions which influence the lives of people in general. He also believes that free time is close to its opposite and becoming a parody of itself and furthermore, he holds that this unfreedom begins to annex the phenomenon of free time and unfree people who are not aware of the situation and their unfreedom.

He helps people understand the reality that free time is not a time which we cannot control and regulate with our determination and that’s why his considerations upon the approaching of free time demonstrate that Adorno aims to deconstruct the common beliefs associated with this concept.

He keeps explaining his ideas by telling an experience from his life. He is startled by the question of what kind of hobbies he has and says that he has no hobby nevertheless he is not kind of a workaholic. He continues, activities such as making music, listening to music or reading, seriously are the significant part of his life and he does not call them hobbies as the others do.

Additionally, Adorno advocates that his work cannot be separated from the area of free time even if there is a strict division between the terms of occupation and free time and sees himself as a privileged man due to the fact that he has an opportunity not only to enjoy his job but also deal with his intentions of his own as well.

Holding this idea, it seems that Adorno believes that middle-class people neither are fortunate to have a job that is parallel to their interests or spare time activities nor do they have the consciousness to experience life outside work.

Adorno goes on his essay with the issue that profit-oriented social life and asserts that some leisure time activities such as tourism and camping are now organized in order to make a profit fundamentally.  Later, he brings a new ideology concerned with hobbies and adds: “Organized freedom is compulsory. Woe betide you if you have no hobby, no pastime; then you are a swot or an oldtimer, an eccentric, and you will fall prey to ridicule in a society which foists upon you what your free time should be” (pg.190).

He makes us come up against the idea which subjugates us that we should have different hobbies as social creatures and only in this way we may improve ourselves and our relationships with others. Such compulsion is created by ourselves unconsciously. Adorno, moreover, claims that the leisure industry benefits from the emerging need of “getting out” and successfully creates a need for purchasing the equipment for camping by utilizing the demand of people towards “free time”.

One more time, we realize that the desire for freedom unwittingly leads to the unfreedom of people or in other words, the created illusion of freedom that emerges in our minds, always grows into the reason for our unfreedom.

Adorno also mentions free time as vacuous and thinks that Hegel would call it abstract. He goes on with the example of suntan and holds that for the sake of a bronzed skin, many people are exposed to sunshine even though it is not enjoyable at all and even harmful for both our skin and mind.

Calling it a fetish, Adorno struggles to demonstrate that our free time activities again become part of social controls and gives that instance so as to prove his thesis. When people return from their holidays without getting bronzed well, they have to face this question inevitably: ‘Haven’t you been on holiday?’ If we have a suntan, we do not have to hear this curious question because the answer is quite evident.

Besides the free time activities in which we try to take a place, unfortunately, we also have the obligation of sharing or proving the experiences with others. Instagram, Facebook, and other social media platforms, having a significant place and widely used in the modern world, are the most remarkable indicators of this endeavor and thereby unfreedom. We are not free in our decisions and our free time activities are determined by society and industry again.

Adorno continues his essay with the theory of boredom. He highlights that Schopenhauer developed this theory at his early age and in his perspective, people either suffer from their unfulfilled desires and blind will, or they become bored when their desires satisfied immediately. Through the idea, he presents the term of Fremdbestimmtheit (external determination) and its evident role over the free time of people.

“Boredom is a function of life which is lived under the compulsion to work, and under the strict division of labor. It need not be so. Whenever behavior in spare time is truly autonomous, determined by free people for themselves, boredom rarely figures; it need not figure in activities which cater merely for the desire for pleasure, any more than it does in those free-time activities which are reasonable and meaningful in themselves” (pg.192).

Adorno makes clear that heteronomy is an important aspect of boredom. “Boredom is the reflection of objective dullness” (pg.192), he, in addition, supports his views with this assumption.   Therefore, when an individual becomes autonomous and behaves with his/her free will, boredom appears scarcely.  And if people are not able to make their own decisions about their free time apart from the work, their lives inescapably turn into an endless routine and it brings about boredom to humans eventually.

Also in our modern world, boredom is a crucial outcome of our lifestyles. Because of the recent developments in technology, and the innovations that alter the way of our life gradually, the choices we are supposed to make consciously, start to get out of our decision mechanism. For this issue, the most appropriate example may be the advertisements of building constructors which have gained prominence on the mass media recently. As a result of the developments of building trade, and the dependence on this sector economically, free time has grown into an industry expectedly.

This industry covenants not only a home to live in but also a life that includes a number of free time areas such as fitness centers, swimming pools, cafes and restaurants, and parks. Everything one might desire is presented for people who take the opportunity to reside in such a living space. Through the successful advertisements, the consumers are convinced that they really need this lifestyle, they should participate in the same activities which majority carry out, even if they do not have to and that’s why they are provided to spend their free time in accordance with this predetermination.

Consequently, the control of spare time and activities are seized by the industry or in other words, the capitalist system. For his reason, we unwillingly or unconsciously waste our spare time in the organized free time and hence we are imprisoned by ceaseless boredom.

‘Do it yourself’ is the modern way of spare time activity which more than 30 years ago, Adorno defined as ‘pseudo-activity’. He goes on to describe the term and advocates that “Pseudo-activity is misguided spontaneity” (pg.194), and believes that many people are not complainant about being distracted by temporary and illusory activities to which the system imposes.

Therefore, we can clearly say that pseudo activity is a behavior that takes place in the condition of heteronomy and organized by the industry essentially. And not surprisingly, people who are not autonomous in their activity, cannot create a product or exhibit behavior in which there is not social interference.

Depending upon his interpretations dealing with the concept of free time, Adorno indicates that free time is not opposed to labor essentially. Living in the system in which the employment means much more than money, free time merely becomes an illusion or a deception. He, towards the end of the essay, clarifies the relationship between free time and the culture industry and states the assumption in which the culture industry is to be an ultimate power controlling both conscious and unconscious of the consumers.

Nonetheless, he shares his doubt about this belief and notes that the culture industry has not totally dominated the consumer consciousness. He supports his approach with the example of the wedding of Princess Beatrix of Holland with the junior German diplomat Claus von Amsberg. He points out that the wedding was broadcast by the mass media and consumed by the people in their free time.

However, in spite of the endeavor to draw the public’s attention to this event, the reaction of the audience was unexpected. With the empirical social research, one can understand that the society’s attitude towards the ‘unique experience’ (einmalig), was not more than an enjoyment contrary to the expectations.

In conclusion, Adorno states that the culture industry presents organized freedom for people and it is accepted by the consumers willingly and claims that the integration between free time and consciousness has not come true yet. And he has the opinion that if social contradictions do not diminish, free time and consciousness never integrate. He finally holds that maturity (Mündigkeit) may be the means to reach not “free time” but “freedom”.

To conclude, first of all, we should say that Adorno’s “Free Time” is far beyond his time and a very significant essay to evaluate the lifestyles of the modern world effectively. He defines the phenomenon of free time and its relationship with the notions such as leisure time, boredom, labor etc. mainly. It is obviously understood that we are the victim of free time and thereby the capitalist system.

Through the created needs, desires, and demands, we are successfully dominated by the culture industry. As technology has developed, consumerism has increased radically and the prosperity of societies has risen, free time has become an irreplaceable part of our lives.  And as the free time industry has started to control our choices, decisions, needs, and desires, we have had the compulsion of taking place in this culture unconsciously.

Now, we treat it as if we have to participate in language courses or dance courses, take up new hobbies, go on holidays and enjoy all the time because we are to keep up with this unfreedom. We, unfortunately, have lost our freedom in the free time regulations supplied by the industry and dominant structure. In short, we are not free and autonomous to determine our behaviors or activities moreover, we live in the delusion of freedom as Adorno aims to demonstrate in his essay.

[1] Theodor W. Adorno, The Culture Industry – Selected Essays on Mass Culture, Free Time, Routledge, 2001

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How I Spend My Free Time (Essay Sample) 2023

Table of Contents

Introduction

How Long Is A One Page Essay and Is it realistic to expect a low-cost, High-Quality Essay from a Cheap Paper Writing Service ?

What do you do in your free time? Some people produce beautiful flowers, some watch soap operas, and others play computer games.

This custom essay on how you spend your free time focuses on painting as a hobby. Read on and find out how the author discovered her love for painting and what her creative process looks like.

What do you do when you have too much leisure time and want to make it count? To produce your own essay on this topic, get An Essay Writing Service to match you with a writer who can help you out.

What Do You Do In Your Free Time Essay Example

I remember my father painting landscapes when I was a kid. We used to go out for walks with him when he needed inspiration. He once gave me a beautiful portrait that I found meaningful, and to this day I still have it. Because of my dad, I enjoy painting as a hobby.

As a student, I am always busy with my school work on weekdays. Thankfully, I have plenty of free time on weekends, so I get to paint then. I’ve tried a variety of painting formats. But right now, I love doing my friends’ portraits. Sometimes, they even ask me to go and paint their bedrooms with a design of my choosing.

I love painting indoors because sometimes the weather gets too chilly. Painting is a great way to portray my perception of reality or even showcase a figment of my imagination. I get to imagine all kinds of things and paint them. I’ve done astonishing houses in heaven, hills, clouds, and peoples’ faces. Sometimes I even visit exhibitions in our town and check out other artists’ works for inspiration and for pure pleasure. Even though I am still young, I still get a lot of compliments about my art, and this motivates me a lot.

Essay Writing

Memorable Paintings I’ve Done in My Leisure Time

I have one particular portrait of my mother, which I painted during the last summer holiday. I think it’s the best piece I’ve ever done. It’s also meaningful as my mother has been my greatest inspiration, and she encourages me to keep honing my craft.

Another favorite piece of art that I made was when my art teacher told me to draw a landscape of our school at the end of term. This experience was so special because the end result was attractive and unique.

I have many other memorable artworks, and each one of them has a significant memory attached to it. I hope that one day I can put up my own exhibit and show people some of the paintings that I’ve done over the years.

My Creative Process

My painting work is primarily done at home. I have an art room where I keep my brushes, paintings, and other materials.

Before I start, I try to visualize in my mind the vision I have for the piece. For instance, I did an elephant portrait once. It took me an entire day just to finish the sketch as I had to spend time visualizing the outlines on its head. Getting a technical grasp of the object of my study is so important, and it should never be skipped.

After attaining clarity on my vision, I identify the specific hues that I will need to get started. Sometimes I build on this, as the vision can sometimes evolve when I start painting. I then focus all my time filling in the outline and perfecting all the details. I don’t stop until I have a piece of art that I am proud to call my own.

Room for Growth in My Free Time

To be honest, I have so much room for improvement. Thankfully, I have a lot of free windows on weekends to keep working on my weaknesses.

One thing that I have realized is that painting is different from writing, though both are creative endeavors. I love how the end result of painting is a primarily visual experience. It’s so fun and exciting. It’s a good way to cheer me up after a long week of studies. Painting is also a relatively affordable hobby and a good outlet for creative people like myself, even if it requires a lot of practice and dedication. There’s never a dull moment.

I would love to spend more time painting. Another reason why it is so important to me is because of the connection it has to my father. He was my first inspiration. While I am self-taught, I diligently apply all the things I have learned from art books. More than just getting better at my technique, I have found a good outlet for expressing myself emotionally without having to say it in words.

How Do I Spend My Free Time Essay

What activities do you pursue in your spare time? There are “academic” hobbyists who try to learn a foreign language, and other more kinaesthetic learners who engage themselves in various sports activities.

I personally like to paint portraits in my free moments, whether I’m on summer vacation or just taking a break for the weekend. It all started when I was young, when I watched my father paint and get inspiration from the most random things in nature. Since then, I’ve been trying to deepen my technical knowledge of this type of art. I’m a self-taught painter, so I rely on art books, artist interviews, and painting workshops to get better at my craft.

While I appreciate different kinds of painting, I am especially captivated by portraits. As such, this is the style of painting I prefer doing. I have done pieces for my friends over the years and I would volunteer as a portrait artist for different types of social activities.

When it comes to leisure, it’s important to know how to spend your free time wisely. Make those moments count, as you may never get them back again.

What are popular free time activities you enjoy?

You may opt to write about a variety of different hobbies or pursuits, such as collecting stamps, finding and filling little treasure chests, watching plants grow, trying physical activities, playing games, cultivating a garden, reading novels, and other exciting things. As you write about these activities, keep in mind to write about the things that get you excited.

What are the ways to spend your free time wisely?

In this very busy and fast-paced world, free time can be very hard to come by, so it’s important to maximize the free moments you have. Use your spare time investing in yourself. It doesn’t mean that you have to do something expensive or difficult, especially if it will only cause you even more stress. Do especially exciting things that personally matter to you. You know it’s worth doing if you feel refreshed and recharged at the end of the day. It may still require some physical exertion, but the satisfaction you get from doing it should weigh more heavily.

You don’t even have to stick to just one thing. If your free time comes in a regular series of time bursts, you can actually make a bucket list of the things you want to do. It could be pursuing hobbies that you’re already familiar with, or it could be finding a new interest and learning how to do it well. Whatever it is, it should be something that will enrich your life.

essay on free time

How to Have the Most Fun in Your Free Time, According to Science

essay on free time

T he calendar is an indispensable tool in our over-committed and over-stimulated culture, and one no longer reserved solely for work commitments and appointments. Many busy people, faced with ever-dwindling free time, resort to scheduling everything from time with friends and family to sex with a partner .

But is scheduling your free time a good idea?

Researchers from Ohio State University’s Fisher College of Business and Rutgers Business School evaluated existing research (much of it their own) on time management tactics and how they affect the uptake, outcome and enjoyment of various activities. Many of their assessments, which are published in the journal Current Opinion in Psychology , are in line with conventional productivity wisdom. They determined that scheduling an activity increases the likelihood that it’ll get done , for example, and that multitasking helps people achieve more, but with spottier results .

When it comes to enjoying leisure activities, however, the researchers found that classic time management strategies may backfire. Just as with work tasks or errands, science shows that getting fun activities on the calendar increases your chances of getting them done — but there’s a cost, according to the researchers’ analysis. Here’s how to plan your free time without sacrificing fun.

Keep it vague

Studies have shown that any amount of scheduling may reduce your enjoyment of leisure activities by disrupting their “free-flowing nature,” the researchers write. But if putting a friend date or shopping trip in your planner is the only way it’ll get done, keep the timing as loose as possible. The researchers suggest designating chunks of time rather than specific hours — “after work” is better than “at 6 p.m.,” for example.

Give yourself time

When you find yourself with an expanse of free time, it’s tempting to squeeze in as many fun activities as possible. But studies show that imposing a hard stop on a fun activity — even if it’s to start another pleasant thing — will subconsciously affect your ability to enjoy it while it’s happening. This phenomenon, the researchers write, may be related to our tendency to underestimate how much we can fit into blocks of time — hence why you may find yourself whittling away the 30 minutes before a meeting instead of starting a new task. When it comes to free time, letting the day unfold organically is a better strategy.

Stay in the moment

In a similar vein, the analysis showed that, independent of time pressure, the “mere knowledge of future upcoming activities may also undermine enjoyment,” perhaps because it takes participants out of the moment and splits their attention. The researchers recommend resisting the temptation to over-plan, and instead focusing on one activity at a time.

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Essays About Time: Top 5 Examples and 8 Prompts

Essays about time involve looking into human existence and other intangible concepts. Check out our top examples and prompts to write an engaging piece about this subject.

Time entails many concepts that can be hard to explain. In its simplest sense, time is the period between the past, present, and future. It also encompasses every action or progression of events within those measures. Time never stops. It consistently ticks away, making it both a cruel teacher and an apt healer. It inspires many writers to write pieces about it, discussing time as a notion or an element in emotionally-driven compositions that both describe euphoric and heart-rending episodes. 

To aid you in writing a compelling piece, below are our top picks for great essays about time:

1. Time is Precious Essay by Anonymous on AreSearchGuide.com

2. an essay on time by david pincus, 3. time is money by supriya, 4. time waster by anonymous on exampleessays.com, 5. time management: using the less time to do more by anonymous on edubirdie.com, 1. how i spend my time, 2. what is time, 3. time and technology, 4. time management and procrastination, 5. if time doesn’t exist, 6. time as a currency, 7. the value of time, 8. time and productivity.

“Make most of your time and you will be rewarded ten folds of it, waste it and the little you have will be taken away, just like in the parable of talents.”

The essay begins with a convincing statement reminding the readers of the average life expectancy of a person to assert the importance of time. Then, in the later sections, the author answers why time is precious. Some reasons include time is always in motion, is priceless, and can never be borrowed. The piece also mentions why many “wait for the right opportunity,” not realizing they must plan first to get to the “right time.” Finally, at the end of the essay, the writer reminds us that balancing and planning how to spend time in all areas of life are critical to having a meaningful existence.

“I don’t know what time is, beyond a mysterious self-similar backdrop upon which we lead our lives. It is intricately woven across the scales of observation – from the quantum level to the phenomenological time of cultural revolutions.”

Pincus begins the essay with questions about time and then proceeds to answer them. Then, he focuses on time psychologically, relating it to traumas, disorders, and lack of meaning. In the next section, he discusses how psychotherapists use the concept of time to treat patients. 

In the last part of his essay, Pincus admits that he doesn’t know what time is but notes it’s akin to a thread that stitches moments together and anchors us through a complex world.

“Knowing how precious time is, we should never waste time, but make good use of it.”

Supriya’s essay is straightforward. After claiming that someone’s success depends on how they use their time, she gives an example of a student who studied well and passed an exam quickly. She follows it with more examples, referring to office workers and the famous and wealthy.

“Time is something you can’t have back, and should not be used to simply watch a computer screen for hours upon end.”

The writer shares one of his vices that leads him to waste time – technology, specifically, instant messaging. They mention how unproductive it is to just stare at a computer screen to wait for their friends to go online. They know many others have the same problem and hope to overcome the bad habit soon.

“I should strive for good time management skills which are essential to be learned and mastered in order to have a better personal and professional life… it can also help us learn more about self-discipline which is a crucial pillar for stable success… time management is a concept of balance and moderation of the things that are important to us.”

The essay affirms people need to protect time, as it’s a non-renewable resource. A great way to do it is by tracking your time, also known as time management. The writer shared their experience when they were a college student and how challenging it was to allocate their time between deadlines and other life demands. The following parts of the piece explain what time management is in detail, even recommending a tool to help individuals label their activities based on urgency. The following paragraphs focus on what the author learned about time management throughout their life and how they missed opportunities while continuously being stressed. Then, the last part of the essay suggests tips to conquer time management problems. 

Did you know that readability is critical to readers finishing your whole essay? See our article on how to improve your readability score to learn more. 

8 Writing Prompts For Essays About Time

Go through our recommended prompts on essays about time for writing:

In this essay, share how you use your time on a typical day. Then, decide if you want to keep spending your time doing the same things in the future. If not, tell your readers the reason. For instance, if you’re devoting most of your time studying now, you can say that you intend to use your future time doing other invaluable things, such as working hard to help your family.

Because there are many definitions of time, use this essay to define your interpretation of time. You can use creative writing and personify time to make your essay easy to understand. For example, you can think of time as a personal tutor who always reminds you of the things you should be able to finish within the day. For an engaging essay, use descriptive language to emphasize your points.

Essays About Time: Time and technology

List technologies that help people save time, such as smartphones, computers, and the internet. Delve into how these devices help individuals complete their tasks faster. On the other hand, you can also talk about how modernization negatively affects people’s time management. Like when they distract students and workers from completing their assignments.

Discuss reasons why people procrastinate. First, ensure to pick common causes so your readers can easily relate to your piece. Then, add tips on how individuals can battle dilly-dallying by recommending influential time management theories and models. You can even try some of these theories or models and tell your readers how they worked for you. 

Open a discussion about what can happen if there is no concept of time. Include what matters you think will be affected if time is abolished. You can also debate that time does not exist, that it’s just created by people to keep track of whatever they need to monitor. Finally, add your thoughts on the notion that “we only exist within an ever-changing now.”

Share your ideas of what can take place if we use “time” to buy food, pay rent, etc. You can also analyze that when we use our time to work, get paid for it, and then purchase our necessities, we’re technically exchanging our time to be able to buy what we need. A movie that used this theory is In Time , starring Justin Timberlake, Amanda Seyfried, and Cillian Murphy. You can write a review of this movie and add your opinions on it.

Everyone’s aware of the importance of time. For this prompt, delve into why time is precious. Write this essay from your perspective and probe how time, such as managing or wasting it, affects your life. You can also interpret this prompt by calculating the non-monetary or opportunity costs of spending time. 

Examine the direct relationship between time and productivity. Then, list productivity strategies schools and businesses use. You can also open a discourse about the number of hours workers are supposed to work in a week. For example, debate if you think a 40-hour full-time work week in America, results in more productive employees. Then, add other schedules from other countries and how it affects productivity, such as Denmark, Germany, and Norway, with less than 30 hours of the work week. 

Do you want to know how to convince your readers effectively? Read our guide on how to write an argumentative essay . Improve your writing skills; check out our guide packed full of transition words for essays .

essay on free time

Maria Caballero is a freelance writer who has been writing since high school. She believes that to be a writer doesn't only refer to excellent syntax and semantics but also knowing how to weave words together to communicate to any reader effectively.

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The Importance of Free Time for Kids

Betsie Van Der Meer / Getty Images

Today's children are busy, and when a child enters middle school schedules can get even busier. In fact, your child's schedule, and yours may at times be harried and overwhelming. But free time is important for children,   especially as they enter puberty and adolescence. While too much free time can become problematic,   it's important for parents to make sure that their tween has a balance between scheduled activities and time for themself.

If your tween can't seem to keep up with their responsibilities, it might be because they have too many.   Below are a few considerations when evaluating your child's free time. 

Prioritizing Free Time

Parents often have the best of intentions, but many parents are guilty of overscheduling their children, programming their schedules with extracurricular activities, volunteer work, and other demands.   The reasons behind the trend in overscheduling children are numerous. Some parents simply want to give the child opportunities that they never had. Others hope to make their children more competitive and better prepared for a successful high school experience, and beyond.  

While it is important for a child to pursue interests, hobbies or passions, it's also important for children to learn how to enjoy downtime.

Studies show that children who are overscheduled often feel overwhelmed and pressured, and that can lead to a number of problems including behavioral issues and emotional challenges.   In other words, overscheduled children can be stressed out.

Why It's So Important

Resist the urge to sign your child up for every activity that's available. Instead, help your child prioritize their interests. By doing so you're teaching your tween the skill of decision-making and that downtime should also be a priority to consider.  

Tweens Need Time to Think

Middle school can be stressful. Just consider all the challenges and obstacles a middle school student might face: bullies ; increase in homework responsibilities; pressure to excel and to be competitive; friendship issues; dating; puberty; and more.   All of those challenges require a little time on your child's part to think it through and find ways to manage it.

Allowing your child the free time to think will help your tween put it all into perspective and move on. And allowing your child the time to think also give you an opportunity to talk with one another and work through issues together. If you're rushing from one responsibility to another, conversations can be short and condensed. Allow your child the time to open up to you, or another family member.

Tweens Need to Relax

Adults understand the need to relax after a stressful week of work. Tweens are no different. If you've had a very busy week, you probably just want to go home and watch a little television. Your child might feel the same way. Free time allows your child to relax and do nothing, or to do something they've looked forward to all week.  

Tweens Need to Daydream

Daydreaming is something children are often criticized for, but children should allow themselves to daydream—just not in class. Daydreaming allows children to consider possible futures for themselves, and to ponder all the possibilities that are in front of them.   But you can't daydream if you don't have the leisure time to do so.

While pretend play is important for toddlers and preschoolers, daydreaming is important to tweens and teens. Allow your child the time to think about their future, and you might be surprised at the results.

Free Time Makes People Happy

Studies show that people are generally happier on the weekends.   Why? On the weekends, people get to choose their own activities, spend time with the people they like and separate themselves from their weekday responsibilities. Makes sense, doesn't it?

Auhuber L, Vogel M, Grafe N, Kiess W, Poulain T. Leisure Activities of Healthy Children and Adolescents . Int J Environ Res Public Health . 2019;16(12). doi:10.3390/ijerph16122078

Meldrum RC, Barnes JC. Unstructured Socializing with Peers and Delinquent Behavior: A Genetically Informed Analysis . J Youth Adolesc . 2017;46(9):1968-1981. doi:10.1007/s10964-017-0680-x

American Academy of Pediatrics. Chores and Responsibility . November 21, 2015.

Cleveland Clinic. Is Your Child Overscheduled? Kids Need ‘Down Time’ . July 16, 2018.

Vandell DL, Larson, RW, Mahoney, JL, Watts, TW. Children's Organized Activities . In Handbook of child psychology and developmental science: Ecological Settings and Orocesses . Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons; 2015, pp. 305-344. doi:10.1002/9781118963418.childpsy408

Brown SL, Nobiling BD, Teufel J, Birch DA. Are kids too busy?: early adolescents' perceptions of discretionary activities, overscheduling, and stress . J Sch Health . 2011;81(9):574-80. doi:10.1111/j.1746-1561.2011.00629.x

Barker JE, Semenov AD, Michaelson L, Provan LS, Snyder HR, Munakata Y. Less-structured time in children's daily lives predicts self-directed executive functioning .  Front Psychol . 2014;5:593. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00593

American Psychological Association. How to help children and teens manage their stress . October 24, 2019.

McMillan RL, Kaufman SB, Singer JL. Ode to positive constructive daydreaming .  Front Psychol . 2013;4:626. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00626

Helliwell JF, Wang S. How was the weekend? How the social context underlies weekend effects in happiness and other emotions for US workers .  PLoS One . 2015;10(12):e0145123. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0145123

By Jennifer O'Donnell Jennifer O'Donnell holds a BA in English and has training in specific areas regarding tweens, covering parenting for over 8 years.

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A- Study the following paragraph writing examples

Activities i do when i feel bored.

There are a lot of activities I do when I feel bored. Firstly, I like to practice sports. Sometimes, I play football with my friends outside. At other times, I just stay home playing table tennis with my two brothers. Secondly, when I don’t want to practice anything, I just turn on my laptop and watch some episodes of my favourite series. Thirdly, I sometimes like to read different kinds of books. To sum up, I rarely feel bored at home, but when I do, I have so many options to kill my boredom.

My Free Time Activities

When I have some free time I usually love entertaining myself. I love watching TV, but what I love most is watching movies. In fact, I like almost all kinds of movies such as action, comedy, and romance. Also, I enjoy watching shows and series such as Games of Thrones and Breaking Bad. In addition, I enjoy listening to music because it makes me feel comfortable and relaxed. Sometimes, I enjoy listening to rock music and at other times classic music. Yet, I am really a big fan of Michael Jackson and Eminem. Finally, what I like to do in my spare time is go on picnics. There are many beautiful places in my country to visit, such as mountains, forests, and beaches. All in all, these are the activities I prefer to do for leisure.

Important Synonyms:

  • Free time:   leisure;  spare time;
  • kinds  :   types;  
  • I am big fan of Michael Jackson: Michael Jackson is my favourite singer.
  • kill my boredom : get rid of my boredom
  • such as : like;
  • relaxed  : calm

Following the examples above and using the given synonyms, develop the following topic sentences to write complete paragraphs

I usually enjoy my free time with different activities. First, ………………………………………

Suggested ideas :

  • Check my social media accounts
  • Hang out with my friends.
  • Play video games
  • Surf on the net

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Essay On Time for Students and Children

500+ words essay on time.

Essay On Time – Time is very precious and we should not waste it in any way. Likewise, we can earn the money we spent but we cannot get back the time we have lost. So, this makes the time more valuable than money. Hence, we should utilize the time in the most possible way.

Essay On Time

Importance of Time

This the most valuable and precious thing in the world. Also, we should use it for our good as well as for the good of others around us. This will help us and the society to progress towards a better tomorrow. Moreover, we should teach our children the importance and value of time. Also, wasting time will only lead you to cause an issue to you and the people around you.

Effective Utilization of Time

For effectively utilizing the time we must consider some points which will help us in our whole life. This utilization includes setting goals, prepare work lists, prioritize task, and take adequate sleep and various others.

For effectively utilizing time set long and short term goals these goals will help you in remaining productive. Moreover, they will prove as a driving force that will keep you motivated. Also, this will give the willingness to achieve something in life.

In the beginning, it will feel like a boring task but when you do it regularly then you will realize that that it only helps you to increase your productivity. Ultimately, this will force you to achieve more in life.

Prioritizing task is a very effective way of managing time. Also, because of it, you will know the importance of various task and jobs. Apart from that, if your club and perform a similar activity in a go then it also increases your productivity. Hence, it will help you to achieve more in life.

Being productive does not mean that you engage yourself in different tasks every time. Taking proper sleep and exercising is also part of being productive. Besides, proper exercise and sleep maintain a balance between body and mind which is very important for being productive and efficient.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

Value of Time

Although most people do not understand how valuable time is until they lost it. Besides, there are people in the world who prioritize money over time because according to them, time is nothing. But, they do not realize the fact that it is time that has given them the opportunity to earn money. Apart from this, the time has given us prosperity and happiness and on the contrary, it has also given us sorrow and grief.

Power of Time

In previous time many kings proclaim themselves as the ruler of their age and all. But, they forget that they have limited time. Time is the only thing in the world that is limitless. Time can make you a king or a beggar in a movement of seconds.

In conclusion, we can say that time is the greatest gift of God. Moreover, there is a saying that “if you waste time, time will waste you.” Only this line is enough to justify how important and valuable time is.

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English Summary

100 Words Essay On How I Spend My Free Time In English

I do many things to spend my free time. 

Firstly, I am an avid reader. In my free time hence, I try to read as many books as I can to pass the time. 

Next, I listen to music. I have different playlists made on Spotify for this very purpose to suit my various moods and tastes!

I also watch shows to pass my time. I currently am, in fact, watching the BBC Sherlock series at the moment and am tremendously enjoying myself!

If none of these work, I resort to, well, my last resort– sleep!

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Americans have no idea how to use their free time

  • The average American has way more "free" time than you might think.
  • But most of us spend the majority of our leisure time staring at screens. 
  • Picking up a new hobby can be a good way to reset — but that's easier said than done.

Insider Today

It's another Tuesday night, and work is winding down. I send my last Slack messages for the evening, fire off a few emails, and shut my laptop with a false sense of finality as if I don't have to return to my desk in sixteen short hours.

I make the short trek from my at-home office to the couch, where I grab the remote and settle in for yet another night of "Real Housewives" viewing. Before I know it, four hours have passed. My eyes are heavy, and it's time for bed. So long, Tuesday.

That's how it goes on Wednesday and Thursday, too. Maybe I'll grab drinks with friends on Friday or switch out reality TV for the newest Netflix movie come Monday, but generally speaking, I spend most of my adult life eating, sleeping, working, and scrolling to the ambient sounds of the telly . It's a far cry from the schedule I kept as a teenager, sprinting from play rehearsal to swim practice and still finding time for homework and socializing in between.

It's true that Americans are overworked , overstressed, and generally awful at unplugging from work, two time-use researchers told Business Insider.

But that only tells half the story.

Americans, on average, have between four to six hours of leisure time every day, according to the American Time Use Survey , which measures the amount of time people spend doing various activities. In 2022, men spent an average of 5.6 hours engaging in leisure activities each day, while women clocked in 4.8 hours of free time, according to the study.

Five hours of free time a day? That can't be right! If I had 25 extra hours each workweek, I certainly would have mastered the piano or written a novel by now, right? Wrong. Instead, all I have to show for my free time is an ungodly knowledge of Bravo lore.

Researchers say I'm not alone in languishing away my leisure time. Several facets of American life, including our reverence for work , our failing social safety net , and the Puritanical ideals on which our country was founded, all play a role in Americans' seeming inability to unwind in meaningful ways, researchers said.

Two elements define leisure: choice and control, according to Brigid Schulte, author of "Overwhelmed: Work, Love, and Play when No One has the Time" and director of the Better Life Lab. People have to choose an activity freely and have control over the time they spend doing it.

That's why, for much of human history, leisure time was out of reach for the masses, restricted to those with the social standing and status to engage in it — namely, rich men.

"It used to be that having discretionary time and being able to engage in leisure activity was a mark you were of a high social class," said Liana Sayer, director of the University of Maryland's Time Use Lab. "If you could do what you wanted with your time, it meant other people were providing the necessities of life for you."

That changed with industrialization, Sayer said. But the idea that those who have more money also have more time is one that still holds true today. People who work steady, 9-to-5 jobs with predictable schedules are much more likely to find extra time in their day, Sayer said. Gig workers and hourly employees, on the other hand, are increasingly reliant on multiple jobs and unpredictable schedules.

Despite class differences, 95% of Americans over the age of 15 engaged in some kind of leisure activity on a typical day, according to the 2022 time-use survey. The leisure category encompasses pastimes like socializing, exercising, and reading for pleasure.

But the vast majority of Americans' leisure time is spent — you guessed it — in front of the television. Watching TV is the most popular leisure activity, accounting for an average of 2.8 hours a day — more than half of all Americans' leisure time.

Much has been made about America's co-dependant relationship with the tube. (Some influential time researchers have argued Americans' social skills started to decline when air conditioning and television became commonplace, allowing people to remain both comfortable and entertained without leaving their homes, Sayer said.) But whether the small screen rots our brains or helps us relax, the act of watching TV is often an inherently anti-social one, researchers said.

Related stories

It's easy to flip on the TV after a busy day at work because it requires almost no planning and very little brain engagement. Partaking in an out-of-the-house activity or making plans with other people, meanwhile, takes organization and coordination.

Our reliance on TV is part of a larger trend that has seen Americans engage less and less with other people and pro-social institutions like church or volunteer groups, Sayers said, adding that this is a pre-pandemic pattern. While COVID-19 certainly shifted our approach to work and leisure, it can't be solely blamed for Americans' increasing loneliness.

Sexism and the safety net

There is also a gendered element at play when it comes to Americans' leisure time. Married mothers do about three times the amount of housework, and twice as much childcare as married fathers do, Sayer said. There's some evidence that men are starting to step up their contributions post-pandemic, according to Sayer. However, much of women's "free" time is still dedicated to household duties and parenting.

"Most women don't feel like they deserve leisure time," Schulte said. "They feel like they have to earn it."

That mindset is not unique to American women and dates as far back as biblical times, researchers said. Women have long been transforming their leisure time into productive activities, from starting sewing circles to socializing at the watering hole, Schulte said.

But Americans' toxic relationship with leisure isn't gender-specific. A valorization of "hard work" was built into the very founding of our country, Schulte said. As a result, Americans have an intrinsic desire to be busy; we take it as a point of pride to overwork ourselves and cultivate little societal respect for hobbies and recreation. And Americans have been getting busier and busier over the course of the last few decades, increasingly to the detriment of their civic and social life, Schulte said.

"A lot of that panic and anxiety can be tied back to the '70s and '80s and the dismantling of the social safety net," she added.

When it comes to prioritizing leisure time, America could take some cues from its European friends. Norwegians average more than six hours of leisure time each day. At the same time, the Belgians and Greeks pursue relaxation and hobbies for more than five-and-a-half hours each day on average, according to time use data from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. The US ranked 21 in global leisure time.

But America today lacks much of the infrastructure that would allow people to fully embrace and prioritize their leisure time, researchers said. People can't take the time to learn a new skill or truly unwind without robust maternity leave, affordable childcare, a better work-life balance, and dependable healthcare in place, Schulte said.

European countries far outrank the US when it comes to social spending. In 2019, France spent nearly a third of its gross domestic product on services related to health, family, unemployment, housing, and other benefits, according to OECD data compiled by the World Economic Forum . Finland, Belgium, Italy, Germany, Spain, Japan, and the UK all dedicated 20% or more of their spending to social services, while the US ranked ninth with 18.7%.

"A lot needs to change big-picture with policymakers and business leaders," Schulte said of the US. "But people can't wait until then to pick up a new hobby."

Most adults struggle to remember what they even liked to do as a kid, which is one of the reasons TV has become the national default leisure activity. Schulte recommends starting small: Set a timer for 30 minutes each day and practice developing the muscle of first remembering what you like to do and then giving it a try.

Beginning ballet

The best way to recover and "refresh your soul," as the Greeks described it, is to completely detach from work and take a proper break, according to Ciara Kelly, a lecturer in work psychology at The University of Sheffield.

Hobbies are particularly good for that, Kelly said, citing a 2019 study she led that found people who engaged in hobbies enjoyed improved confidence and saw benefits at their jobs.

The study's findings resonated with me. I had been an activity-driven adolescent, someone who found purpose and community in my hobbies and passions. I missed having an identity outside my work and media consumption.

So, I did what any rational 26-year-old journalist would: I signed up for a beginner's ballet class.

It was terrifying. I hadn't worn ballet slippers since I was four years old. I had no idea what the French words flying out of my teacher's mouth meant. My balance was terrible, and my flexibility left much to be desired.

In those first few weeks, I came dangerously close to quitting, nearly falling prey to the achievement-oriented culture that runs rampant in America.

"We're focused on doing and being the best — even in yoga classes — people have written about trying to outdo others as if we're in constant competition," Schulte told me. "But leisure requires none of that."

So, I kept going back. Even though I wasn't the best one in my class. Even though I sometimes (often) looked silly. And for 50 minutes every Monday night, I feel like a kid again.

essay on free time

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Ugadi 2024: Date, history, significance, celebrations and everything that you want to know

Ugadi 2024: from history to celebrations, here's all that you need to know about this special day..

Ugadi 2024: This is that time of the year when New Year starts in multiple states. This is the start of the harvest season, and brings hope, prosperity and promises of a better tomorrow. During this time, people deck up in new clothes, decorate their homes and welcome the New Year . It is celebrated in different names in different states. In West Bengal, Poila Boishak is celebrated, while Maharashtra celebrates Gudi padwa . In the states of Telengana, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, Ugadi is observed. The cycle of sixty years – Samvatsara – starts on this day. Every year of this sixty-year cycle has a new name.

This year, Ugadi will be celebrated on April 9. (Unsplash)

As we gear up to celebrate the special day, here are a few things that we need to keep in mind.

This year, Ugadi will be celebrated on April 9. According to Drik Panchang, the Pratipada Tithi will start at 23:50 PM on April 8 and will end at 20:30 PM on April 9.

Ugadi, also known as Yugadi translates to yug meaning an era, and adi meaning something new. In the 12th century, Indian Mathematician Bhaskaracharya identified Ugadi as the start of the new year as the spring starts for the year after the cold harsh winters. This is the time when people get together with their loved ones and celebrate the day.

Significance:

It is believed that Lord Brahma created the world on this day and since then, the New Year is meant to be celebrated on this day. Yugadi brings the new era to us, and we celebrate the start of spring and the start of the new year with loved ones.

Celebrations:

Yugadi is celebrated with a lot of interesting rituals. The people start their day with an oil bath and consume neem leaves. They also hoist a colourful flag in front of their homes. Panchanga Sravanam is followed – this is the ritual where an elderly person of the family recites the forecast for the coming year based on the moon signs.

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Tapatrisha is Content Producer with Hindustan Times. She covers stories related to health, relationships, and fashion. ...view detail

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Guest Essay

Is This the End of Academic Freedom?

essay on free time

By Paula Chakravartty and Vasuki Nesiah

Dr. Chakravartty is a professor of media, communication and culture at New York University, where Dr. Nesiah is a professor of practice in human rights and international law.

​At New York University, the spring semester began with a poetry reading. Students and faculty gathered in the atrium of Bobst Library. At that time, about 26,000 Palestinians had already been killed in Israel’s horrific war on Gaza; the reading was a collective act of bearing witness.

The last poem read aloud was titled “If I Must Die.” It was written, hauntingly, by a Palestinian poet and academic named Refaat Alareer who was killed weeks earlier by an Israeli airstrike. The poem ends: “If I must die, let it bring hope — let it be a tale.”

Soon after those lines were recited, the university administration shut the reading down . Afterward, we learned that students and faculty members were called into disciplinary meetings for participating in this apparently “disruptive” act; written warnings were issued.

We have both taught at N.Y.U. for over a decade and believe we are in a moment of unparalleled repression. Over the past six months, since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza, we have seen the university administration fail to adequately protect dissent on campus, actively squelching it instead. We believe what we are witnessing in response to student, staff and faculty opposition to the war violates the very foundations of academic freedom.

While N.Y.U. says that it remains committed to free expression on campus and that its rules about and approach to protest activity haven’t changed, students and faculty members in solidarity with the Palestinian people have found the campus environment alarmingly constrained.

About a week after Hamas’s attacks in October, the Grand Staircase in the Kimmel student center, a storied site of student protests , closed indefinitely; it has yet to reopen fully. A graduate student employee was reprimanded for putting up fliers in support of Palestinians on the student’s office door and ultimately took them down; that person is not the only N.Y.U. student to face some form of disciplinary consequence for pro-Palestinian speech or action. A resolution calling for the university to reaffirm protection of pro-Palestinian speech and civic activity on campus, passed by the elected Student Government Assembly in December, has apparently been stuck in a procedural black hole since.

The New York Police Department has become a pervasive presence on campus, with over 6,000 hours of officer presence added after the war broke out. Hundreds of faculty members have signed onto an open letter condemning the university’s “culture of fear about campus speech and activism.”

Such draconian interventions are direct threats to academic freedom.

At universities across the country, any criticism of Israel’s policies, expressions of solidarity with Palestinians, organized calls for a cease-fire or even pedagogy on the recent history of the land have all emerged as perilous speech. In a letter to university presidents in November, the A.C.L.U. expressed concern about “impermissible chilling of free speech and association on campus” in relation to pro-Palestinian student groups and views; since then, the atmosphere at colleges has become downright McCarthyite .

The donors, trustees, administrators and third parties who oppose pro-Palestinian speech seem to equate any criticism of the State of Israel — an occupying power under international law and one accused of committing war crimes — with antisemitism. To them, the norms of free speech are inherently problematic, and a broad definition of antisemitism is a tool for censorship . Outside funding has poured into horrifying doxxing and harassment campaigns. Pro-Israel surveillance groups like Canary Mission and CAMERA relentlessly target individuals and groups deemed antisemitic or critical of Israel. Ominous threats follow faculty and students for just expressing their opinions or living out their values.

To be clear, we abhor all expressions of antisemitism and wholeheartedly reject any role for antisemitism on our campuses. Equally, we believe that conflating criticism of Israel or Zionism with antisemitism is dangerous. Equating the criticism of any nation with inherent racism endangers basic democratic freedoms on and off campus. As the A.C.L.U. wrote in its November statement, a university “cannot fulfill its mission as a forum for vigorous debate” if it polices the views of faculty members and students, however much any of us may disagree with them or find them offensive.

In a wave of crackdowns on pro-Palestinian speech nationwide, students have had scholarships revoked, job offers pulled and student groups suspended. At Columbia, protesters have reported being sprayed by what they said was skunk, a chemical weapon used by the Israeli military; at Northwestern, two Black students faced criminal charges , later dropped, for publishing a pro-Palestinian newspaper parody; at Cornell, students were arrested during a peaceful protest . In a shocking episode of violence last fall, three Palestinian students , two of them wearing kaffiyehs, were shot while walking near the University of Vermont.

Many more cases of student repression on campuses are unfolding.

Academic freedom, as defined by the American Association of University Professors in the mid-20th century , provides protection for the pursuit of knowledge by faculty members, whose job is to educate, learn and research both inside and outside the academy. Not only does this resonate with the Constitution’s free speech protections ; international human rights law also affirms the centrality of academic freedom to the right to education and the institutional autonomy of educational institutions.

Across the United States, attacks on free speech are on the rise . In recent years, right-wing groups opposed to the teaching of critical race theory have tried to undermine these principles through measures including restrictions on the discussion of history and structural racism in curriculums, heightened scrutiny of lectures and courses that are seen to promote dissent and disciplinary procedures against academics who work on these topics.

What people may not realize is that speech critical of Israel’s occupation and apartheid policies has long been censored, posing persistent challenges to those of us who uphold academic freedom. Well before Oct. 7, speech and action at N.Y.U. in support of Palestinians faced intense and undue scrutiny.

Our students are heeding Refaat Alareer’s call to bear witness. They are speaking out — writing statements, organizing protests and responding to a plausible threat of genocide with idealism and conviction. As faculty members, we believe that college should be a time when students are encouraged to ask big questions about justice and the future of humanity and to pursue answers however disquieting to the powerful.

Universities must be places where students have access to specialized knowledge that shapes contemporary debates, where faculty members are encouraged to be public intellectuals, even when, or perhaps especially when, they are expressing dissenting opinions speaking truth to power. Classrooms must allow for contextual learning, where rapidly mutating current events are put into a longer historical timeline.

This is a high-stakes moment. A century ago, attacks on open discussion of European antisemitism, the criminalization of dissent and the denial of Jewish histories of oppression and dispossession helped create the conditions for the Holocaust. One crucial “never again” lesson from that period is that the thought police can be dangerous. They can render vulnerable communities targets of oppression. They can convince the world that some lives are not as valuable as others, justifying mass slaughter.

It is no wonder that students across the country are protesting an unpopular and brutal war that, besides Israel, only the United States is capable of stopping. It is extraordinary that the very institutions that ought to safeguard their exercise of free speech are instead escalating surveillance and policing, working on ever more restrictive student conduct rules and essentially risking the death of academic freedom.

From the Vietnam War to apartheid South Africa, universities have been important places for open discussion and disagreement about government policies, the historical record, structural racism and settler colonialism. They have also long served as sites of protest. If the university cannot serve as an arena for such freedoms, the possibilities of democratic life inside and outside the university gates are not only impoverished but under threat of extinction.

Paula Chakravartty is a professor of media, communication and culture at New York University, where Vasuki Nesiah is a professor of practice in human rights and international law. Both are members of the executive committee of the N.Y.U. chapter of the American Association of University Professors and members of N.Y.U.’s Faculty for Justice in Palestine.

The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips . And here’s our email: [email protected] .

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