Have you ever looked at the clock after dinner and wondered how in the world it’s 10pm when it feels like you just got off of work an hour ago?
I know I have. Minutes, days, and months all seem to fly by lately.
Before we know it, half the year is gone, and we’ve barely scratched the surface on accomplishing our goals.
Sometimes, this is simply the result of not using our time wisely.
Sure, dinner comes and goes, and it’s bedtime before we know it, but what were we doing to pass the time? Watching TV? Surfing social media feeds? Watching cat videos on YouTube?
Instead, why not try dedicating one or two hours of your nights and weekends to improving your life just a little bit?
Here are 12 productive things you can do on your laptop in your spare time.
1) Organize Your Files
Okay, maybe I’m an organizational weirdo (my closet is color coded), but I love having all my files on my computers organized. It makes it ten times easier to find whatever it is I’m looking for. (This is really helpful when you’re a freelancer with 10+ clients, too.)
For example, I have a folder for pictures which is separated into locations and years, images for my site, images for my clients’ sites, music (with separate folders for artists), articles (divided by client), tax documents…and that’s barely scratching the surface.
You can do the same if you use Dropbox or Google Drive, which I also do. The podcast I’m part of has a shared folder in Google Drive, and we have each podcast episode broken down by folder, so it’s easy to see which files go with which episode.
Getting your files organized and keeping them organized can save you a ton of time down the road. While you’re going through the process, delete files you no longer need to free up space!
2) Start a Side Hustle
We’ll leave off with the most obvious one: start a side hustle in your spare time on your laptop!
Yes, you can run a small business right from your laptop and become location independent, if that’s something you’re interested in. Or you can earn a few extra hundred dollars a month by using skills you already possess and offering the service to others.
Or you can start a blog and monetize it down the road. One guarantee if you start a blog – you will learn a lot in the process and you truly never know where it will take you. While it’s not always the case, many people who start a blog have turned it into a full-time income.
Earning more helps you advance toward your financial goals more than pinching pennies, and you’re bound to pick up valuable skills you can either take back to your workplace, or use to launch your own business full time.
3) Learn a New Language
Want to travel or ramp up your resume? Then learning a new language might be a great idea.
There is paid software out there that you can use, but why take the chance if you’re not sure you can commit to it?
Instead, try Duolingo. There’s both a free version and a paid version, and it’s also an app (so you can study on your phone). It offers a ton of different languages to learn. Babbel is similar, but only the first course in each language is free, so try each before paying for a subscription.
4) Study For a Certification
What’s more productive than studying for something that will potentially increase your salary? Whether you want to go into a new field or advance in your current field, try to search around for free courses that will prepare you to take exams for certifications.
You can do this even if you’re a freelancer looking to edge out competition. As an example, Google offers a free analytics course that helps you prepare for the Analytics Individual Qualification exam. Knowing how to track how effective an ad or social media campaign is can be pretty useful depending on the services you offer.
5) Learn a New Skill
Alternatively, you can choose to learn a new skill that doesn’t necessarily correspond with a certification, but will still boost your income.
Lynda.com is one of the best places to start as it has a crazy amount of courses on subjects ranging from video production to photography to web development.
Here’s a tip: check your library to see if it offers a free subscription to Lynda. If not, there are still plenty of free sites like Codeacademy that will teach you valuable skills, not to mention the plethora of MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) that can give you a great education without the hefty price tag.
If you’ve been meaning to learn something new for the challenge or because it interests you, you’ll likely find something on YouTube or a site that teaches the concepts for free.
6) Make Extra Money through Sharing your Opinion and Cashback Rewards
Along the same lines, if you like to unwind while watching TV, or if you spend a decent amount of time on the bus or train for your commute, why not take the time to earn extra money?
Sharing your opinion for cash is one of the easiest ways to lazily make money from home while binging on the latest Netflix show. Check out our big list of survey websites to get started.
Besides making extra money, there are also opportunities to get cashback on purchases you make. Sites like Rakuten offer cashback on purchases you make. Here’s a list of more than ten cashback sites you can sign up for. Some of these websites have sign-up bonuses when you use our link.
Finally, if you aren’t getting cashback through your credit card it’s time for a new one. Browse and compare the options available here.
7) Enter Giveaways
DC used to enter giveaways as a side hustle, and it has the potential to be fairly lucrative if you keep up with it. He even won a trip to Hawaii!
There are plenty of free giveaways to enter on your laptop during your spare time. If you’ve got nothing else going on, why not try? The more you enter, the more you increase your chances of winning.
Just as a bit of a warning, you might need various social media accounts to enter into these giveaways, as some require a like, follow, or tweet, so create a few specifically for entering giveaways before going on an entry spree.
8) Check in With Your Spending
You didn’t think we’d forget about money management, did you? Time spent managing your money is time well spent. Set a reminder for yourself to sit down with your laptop and have a budget check-in once a week to make sure you’re on track for the month.
You can use our free automated budget spreadsheet to help you stay on top of all your transactions each month. This spreadsheet uses Tiller to automatically pull in your transactions from all your bank and credit card accounts. It can be a huge time saver.
9) Watch Educational Videos
If you’re not a podcast person, Ted Talks might be up your alley. They tend to be on the shorter side, and they’re usually focused on one subject.
Experts talk about interesting discoveries they’ve made and explain how their findings can be applied to the real world. Others present a radically different perspective on subjects you might have learned in school that will make you think differently about them. You’re bound to find a few lifehacks here as well.
Maybe watching someone give a talk on a stage isn’t your thing, or you’re looking for material more in the realm of traditional education. Check out the following informational YouTube channels that also have animations to keep your attention: CrashCourse, AsapSCIENCE, MinutePhysics, and SciShow.
If you love picking up “useless knowledge,” give Mental Floss and Because Science (lots of “nerdy” topics) a watch.
Lastly, How to Adult is filled with useful knowledge on, well, something I’m sure we could all find useful as young adults.
10) Read a Book
I know, I know. Why read a book on your laptop when you might have a tablet or phone that can do the job?
Well, everyone has different reading preferences, and some people can’t stand holding an actual book or reading on a tiny screen. A laptop provides a middle ground. Check your library for ebooks or borrow a classic for free online.
You don’t necessarily need to read a book book, either. Maybe there’s a short ebook freebie you got when you signed up to a newsletter that you’ve been meaning to check out. PDFs longer than 20 pages count as long as you’re learning something, right?
11) Watch Tutorials
Are you awful at cooking? Always wanted to learn how to sew, draw, or play guitar? Maybe you want to pick up knitting or cosplaying? Is there a DIY project on your mind that you don’t know how to start?
There’s a ton of tutorials out there on each, and most of them are entertaining as well as informational. Try and find a series for beginners out there that can guide you step-by-step through a certain process.
12) Write in a Journal
Admittedly, I love journaling with pen and paper, but there are some pretty great online journals out there.
No, I’m not talking about LiveJournal (if anyone remembers those), but there’s one I’ve used called Penzu that allows you to customize the look of your journal, and allows you to password protect it.
You can have multiple journals if you want, which is great if you’re trying to track health or financial goals.
What are your favorite things to do to stay productive while on your laptop or computer? Have you already used any of these ideas? Share in the comments!
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I like points except for read book on laptop (i prefer real books) but thanks I have some ideas to earn a little bit more using pc:D
I’m totally with you – I love the feel of having a book in my hands, and it’s much easier on my eyes. Glad you enjoyed the other tips!
I love entering giveaways. I have found that it’s easier if you go to smaller blogs or companies that run them. I already won several items this way.
Also write a letter to companies you like because a lot of times they’ll send coupons or gift cards. I wrote a letter to Hy-Vee once about how much I love their supermarket and customer service and they sent me a $15 gift card.
I thought that was really nice of them and yes I used the gift card on my next shopping trip there.
Nice, glad to hear that! Going for the smaller ones does seem to be a better strategy as far as increasing your odds of winning. Plus the requirements don’t tend to be insane.
Ah, that’s an awesome tip, thanks for sharing! Couldn’t hurt…
There are two things on this list that I need to get back to doing. The first one is learning a new language. I started doing that in 2014, but quit because I was working a part-time job at the time. I also need to start back entering giveaways.
I hope you find time to do both! Learning a new language is on my list for later this year / next year. There are so many benefits to it.
I’m usually on my laptop too much that the last thing I want to do in my spare time is spend more time on it, lol. Seriously though, I’m big on organizing as well so I like to take spare time to organize things to help save me time in the future. I hate clutter so it helps to reduce digital clutter.
Haha, don’t worry John, you’re not alone! Managing your time well so you don’t need to be on your laptop is being productive enough, right? Glad someone else is with me on reducing clutter. I cannot stand having a crowded desktop or files all over the place.
Great suggestions. It’s amazing how much you can get accomplished by just being a little more purposeful with your time. I always get the “I don’t know how you do it all” comment, but people in real life don’t know the half of what I really do. Television is a huge time waster, but you can still make it productive by multi-tasking. I will run Swagbucks or crochet during the movies we rent once in a while.
Yes, exactly! Being intentional is huge. I get that after a long day at work, sometimes, you just want to zone out. But that choice is yours. My mom loves to knit while watching TV. If I sit down to watch anything I usually need something else to occupy myself with anyway, so it’s a good time to multitask.
My favorites are “free” money sites like Swagbucks and reading other blogs. Ya gotta network in the blogosphere!
True! Reading other blogs is just plain interesting anyway, especially if you’re learning something. That’s why I love our community.
I am a big user of Swagbucks and am always tracking my budget and investments. I also use the time to update my blog and looks for potential side hustles I may be interested in once I graduate.
I wish I had time to do those things, lol! If I had more time I would definitely do more reading – like Giulia below – with a real book :-) all great ideas! Should definitely use your time effectively.
I don’t know if I have the patience or energy to learn a new language (maybe one day!) but I am starting to get back on rewards sites like Swagbucks in my spare time so I can earn more gift cards.
Time really can slip through your fingers if you’re not careful with it. I find it’s helpful to review how much free time you really get each day. I was surprised at how much down time I had at work and at home, even with a full time job and a wife and little boy at home. I try to use that time educating myself or doing things I truly enjoy, like reading.
Appreciate the reminder!
I didn’t know about Google’s free course on analytics. That will be so helpful as a new blogger trying to make sense of everything. This is a great list, all wonderful uses of time. I am a big fan of the free classes on Coursera.
I like all the time to deal with something and especially with books and to fill my mind with new things!