Reclaim your free time
Free time is precious. Reclaiming it can be difficult, but worth it.
Typical modern living is a hamster wheel. Sleep, work, eat, consume content, rinse, repeat. Whether the content is movies, shows, games, videos, or just endless scrolling, it's sucking the energy and productivity from far too many like a leech. Whether it's by design or not doesn't matter as much as fixing the problem, which must be fixed at the individual level.
Therefore, look in the mirror. Where is your free time going? If you have a deficit of productivity when compared against consumption, that's a good place to start. Be honest with yourself about the things you are consuming, and, starting with the most time-consuming, begin to moderate. If you are the type of person who benefits from using timers, schedules, and physical lists, use them. If you aren't, a single mental goal at a time is sufficient to start. Moderate that most time-consuming habit over a few weeks. You are looking to gain control of your will over that habit as an automatic process. Once you start catching yourself falling into that automatic process and can choose not to, move on to the next. This will start a snowball effect, wherein the more habits you gain control over, the easier breaking and replacing subsequent habits becomes. Eventually, you will have as much control over of your little time in this life as possible.
A good example is feeling compelled to catch up on social media, or scrolling around your website or app of choice to find something to watch. A person who does this will lose 30-90 minutes of their life without realizing it. Does this person really need to catch up with what other people he barely knows are doing? Does he really need to tell those other people he barely knows what he is doing? Probably not.
What can you do with 30-90 minutes 5 times a week? That's enough time to sufficiently work out, take a walk, or work on a hobby or skill. It's enough time to go to the grocery store and cook a meal instead of ordering out. It's enough time to go to bed earlier.
If you have multiple habits that you need to break to reclaim more free time, consider the life you want to lead, and compare it to how previous generations lived. Taking a walk and then grilling a steak and some vegetables before working on a hobby or skill each night of the week, for example, might sound like an impossible lifestyle if you're just getting started. It isn't. We used to live like this to avoid boredom. Before that, we did even more intense work daily to survive.
If finances are holding you back from doing some of these positive habits, start with the ones that will save you money first. Buying groceries and cooking for yourself is a big one. If you have the space to grow/raise your own food, there are even more savings to be had with your newly acquired free time. If you're trying to lose some extra weight, cutting a meal and snacks nets you both more free time and less spending. The possibilities are dependent on your preferences and abilities, yet endless.
Chances are, those negative, time-wasting habits you are trying to break are draining you emotionally and mentally - in many cases, without physically draining you enough to sleep regular hours, and, in the worst cases, inducing a worry about the future, or a feeling of helplessness with regards to nudging your own future's trajectory. If you have ever laid awake at night, thinking about whatever you spent your relaxation time reading or watching, you know what I'm talking about. Liberating some free time and expending some physical energy is your first order of business if this sounds like you. Less time paying attention to community, national, and international drama plus more time physically exhausting yourself enough to get better sleep equals not only more mental and emotional reserves, but physical as well - assuming you don't overdo it.
If your social life is suffering due to lack of free time, I'll let you do the math on your own.
If you are already doing some of these positive habits, great. Is there more free time to squeeze back out of your week? What would you like to be doing that you aren't doing already? Would you like to know how to play an instrument or speak a new language? Would you like to read a technical book to improve your performance at work? Would you like to start a business and break away from working for somebody else?
When your weeks are in order, start working on reclaiming your weekends.
Weekends are a bit of a different beast if you work Monday through Friday, but the strategy is the same. Reclaim free time from negative habits, and assign them to positive habits. The first difference you will encounter is that you get to start working on your positive habits with a fresh mind, rather than being depleted from work. Don't waste it. Get something done. If you are focusing on health, plan a trip to a national park for a hike, rent a canoe, or go for a swim. In the colder months, try skiing or winter camping, if you live in such a climate. If focusing on finances: create a budget, find ways to cut your costs and increase your income, or do some reading on how to get started. If you need to fix your social life, join a group that meets up on Saturdays to do some activity you enjoy, or take steps create and establish your own. Take advantage of the larger chunks of free time that are available to you.
Sundays are for the Lord. Wake up early, go to church, and spend time with family. If you aren't the church-going type, give it a shot anyway. We need more Catholics. Take it easy on the physical/servile labor, if possible. Get any physical rest you need for the upcoming week, and recover from any type of work you did throughout the week. Catch up on straightening up around the house or apartment. Have a meal with your extended family. Have a beer with a friend.
Take it one step at a time. Within a few months, you will no longer recognize the life you once lived, of which you were unsure.