Podcast

149: How to Make the Most of Unexpected Free Time

August 10, 2022August 10, 2022

What do you do with unexpected free time? Ok, I know you’re probably saying, “Jennifer, I don’t have free time, expected or unexpected.”

I get it. When you are on the go all the time, it’s hard to see when you may have free time.

Let me share an example of what I mean.

Just last week, Friday, to be exact, I had a hair appointment scheduled for 9 am. I’m generally there for about two hours. And, if you add in travel time of 15 minutes each way, this appointment usually takes about 2 ½ hours of my time.

After that appointment, I was scheduled to meet my friend Tracy for lunch at 11:30.

When I woke up that morning, I checked my phone and had a message from my hair stylist. She said she had hurt her back somehow that week, and even after trying various methods to ease the pain, she was having a hard time standing. So, she wanted to know if we could reschedule my appointment.

While I would have loved to get my hair done that day, I knew it would be best to reschedule, so we set up a new time for this week.

I realized I had an extra 2 ½ hours that I was not expecting. What was I going to do with that time?

If I’m being honest, there have been occasions when something like this happened, and I would choose to spend all of my time scrolling on my phone or doing something else that was a complete waste of time. Then I’d beat myself up for not doing something more productive.

While that’s still the case in some situations, I’ve learned that I need to have a plan when these unexpected free times come up.