According to some statistics I discovered recently the average person aged 25 to 54 spends around a sixth of their day engaged in recreational activities.  About a third of a 24 hour period is spent sleeping, slightly more than a third of a day working and the remaining time is spent eating, drinking, caring for others and other household activities.

Whilst it may vary from person to person your recreational time is a relatively small slice of the pie and therefore very precious which means it is time that should perhaps be spent wisely.  Do you ever get to the end of the working week and wonder where all the time has gone and wished you had more time to do fun things? It's a common enough complaint so here are a few ideas to help you get the most from that little slice of leisure time!

Get other tasks done on time - It stands to reason that if other tasks that are part of your daily routine run over the chances are it will have an impact on your personal time.  For example, aim to leave work on time, be punctual with dinner and get the housework out of the way as early as possible.

Avoid household chores during leisure time - Talking of housework, it's tempting to just get one two extra things done, but you must remember that you need relaxation time too. 

Don't just watch TV for the sake of it - We've all done this at some point.  Sat there on the sofa with our feet up flicking through the channels looking for something to watch but not really settling on anything.  Whilst the feet up and relaxing thing is a good idea, the aimless searching isn't going to bestow you with a sense of fulfillment and to be honest you probably aren't really enjoying it.  Read a book, go for a walk, or try a different leisure pursuit.  TV works best when planned.  For example plan to have a movie night or decide exactly what and when you are going to watch something.

Manage social media time - Whilst browsing Twitter, Google Plus or Facebook can be a fun recreational activity it could become all consuming leaving little time left for anything else interesting or relaxing.  Try to limit yourself to certain times and manage your notifications so that you aren't disturbed during your recreational time. 

Don't be disturbed by others - Everyone has their own routine but it's annoying when the phone rings and you're in the middle of a film or some other activity that requires focus and continuity.  That text message probably doesn't really need to be answered or even looked at right this second; it can wait until later.  Perhaps even use that wonderful social media for something useful, for example: "Just about to watch a film", and then of course put the device away as well!