One of the weirdest parts of your 20s is suddenly having to decide what to do with your own time.

For most of your life, somebody else basically decided your schedule. You went to school. You had homework. Maybe you played a sport or joined clubs. In college, you had classes, roommates, friends nearby, and something going on almost every night.

Then you graduate, start working, and suddenly there are these huge blocks of time where nobody is telling you what to do. You get home from work at 6:30 p.m. and have four or five hours before you go to bed. You wake up on a Saturday with absolutely nothing on the calendar.

Having free time sounds amazing until you actually have to figure out what to do with it.

I don't think the answer is to turn every free hour into an opportunity to be productive. Your free time is also where you get to figure out what you actually like, build a life outside of work, and occasionally do absolutely nothing without feeling guilty about it.

Get Used to Having More Time on Your Own

This is probably one of the biggest changes that happens after college.

“I think this is an incredibly important one, especially in our 20s. Because before our 20s, we don't have a lot of time on our own. That's probably one of the biggest changes from before college to after college, is that you are spending so much more time on your own.”

It can take a while to adjust to that.

Your friends aren't always available anymore. Everybody has different work schedules, relationships, family obligations, and things going on. There are going to be nights when nobody wants to go out and weekends where nothing comes together.

That doesn't mean you're doing your 20s wrong. It means your social life isn't being organized for you anymore.

Learning How To Act Confident When You Don’t Feel It is a big part of making that transition easier. You still need friends and connection, but you also want to be able to have an empty night without feeling like something has gone wrong.

Stop Trying to Optimize Every Free Hour

I think there's a lot of pressure in your 20s to use your free time correctly.

You should have a side hustle. You should work out. You should read. You should learn something. You should meal prep. You should be networking. You should be building toward whatever comes next.

Some of that is good advice. But if every hour outside of work becomes another opportunity to accomplish something, you don't really have free time anymore. You just have a second job where your boss is yourself.

The American Psychological Association has highlighted research suggesting that chosen solitude can offer opportunities for reflection and emotional regulation. Sometimes having nothing scheduled isn't a problem you need to solve.

You can watch TV. You can play video games. You can lie on the couch for an hour. You can go for a walk without listening to a podcast that's supposed to make you smarter.

Not everything has to improve you.

Figure Out What You Actually Like

Free time is one of the best ways to figure out who you are outside of work, school, dating, and everybody else around you.

What would you do if nobody else were making the plan?

Maybe you like cooking. Maybe you want to start playing golf. Maybe you want to see more movies, learn photography, start running, read, make music, play basketball, go to concerts, or spend three hours building something completely pointless.

“We can take that time to like get to know ourselves and familiarize ourselves with what we actually like, what we actually want to do, what we want to see for ourselves, what we want to build in this life.”

You don't need to immediately discover your passion. Just start noticing what you're naturally interested in.

This is also why I think Whatever Happened to Having Hobbies? matters. Somewhere along the way, we started acting like everything we spend time on needs to make money, improve our career, or become content.

You're allowed to be bad at something and still enjoy doing it.

Have a Few Default Things You Can Always Do

One of the easiest ways to waste an entire free night is having absolutely no idea what to do with it.

You finish dinner, sit on the couch, open TikTok for what feels like 10 minutes, and suddenly it's almost midnight.

“A lot of the time, nobody knows what to do at that time because you feel kinda lost in it and then you feel like you've wasted the time.”

I think it helps to have a few default options.

Have a show you're watching. Have a book nearby. Know a walking route you like. Have a gym routine. Keep a list of movies you want to see or restaurants you want to try. Have something you're slowly working on.

You don't need to schedule every minute. You're just giving yourself alternatives to automatically reaching for your phone every time you're bored.

Make Plans With Yourself

You also don't need another person to be available every time you want to do something.

Go get coffee. See a movie. Walk around somewhere new. Go shopping. Sit at a bar and get dinner. Go to a museum. Take yourself somewhere you've wanted to go.

It might feel weird the first few times because we're so used to treating certain activities as social activities.

But research discussed by Psychology Today found that people tend to underestimate how much they'll enjoy doing activities alone.

You don't have to start taking yourself on elaborate solo vacations. Just stop automatically deciding you can't do something because nobody else is free.

Use Some of Your Free Time to Build Something

Not every free hour needs to be productive, but I do think your 20s are a great time to use some of those hours to make something that belongs to you.

That could mean starting a business. It could mean writing, making videos, learning to cook, training for something, starting a podcast, learning an instrument, or working toward a career change.

The important part is that it's something you're choosing.

If there's an idea you keep thinking about every day, that's probably worth paying attention to. You don't have to quit your job or completely reorganize your life around it. Give it an hour on a Wednesday night and see what happens.

If starting is the part you struggle with, How to Stop Procrastinating and Finally Get Things Done is a good place to start.

Actually Make Plans With People Too

Learning how to enjoy your free time alone doesn't mean you should spend all of it alone.

Your friendships start requiring more effort in your 20s because you're no longer automatically seeing your friends every day. Sometimes you have to be the person who makes the plan.

Text somebody and ask if they want to get dinner. Plan something for Saturday. Call the friend you haven't talked to in a month instead of assuming you'll eventually catch up.

Harvard Health Publishing has highlighted the connection between strong social relationships and health and well-being. Making time for people you care about isn't something you should treat as less valuable than doing something productive.

Sometimes the best possible use of a free night is getting dinner with your friends.

Let Yourself Waste Some Time

You are going to waste some of your free time.

There will be Sundays where you do almost nothing. There will be nights where you watch four episodes of something. There will be hours lost to your phone that you wish you had back.

That's fine.

The goal shouldn't be to look back at every week and know that you maximized every second of it. The goal is to feel like your free time actually belongs to you.

Some of it should move your life forward. Some of it should be spent with people you love. Some of it should be spent doing things you enjoy.

And some of it should be completely pointless.

And Here's The Thing

You don't need to figure out the perfect way to spend your free time in your 20s.

Part of your 20s is having enough unstructured time to try things, get bored, change your mind, discover what you like, and occasionally wonder how you just spent four hours doing absolutely nothing.

Don't feel like you need to fill every open space on your calendar. But don't automatically hand every free hour over to your phone either.

Try things. Make plans. Find a hobby. Build something. Spend time with your friends. Spend time alone. Waste an occasional Sunday.

Your free time doesn't always need to be productive.

But it should start feeling like it's actually yours.

Frequently Asked Questions

What should I do with my free time in my 20s?

Use a mix of your free time for hobbies, friends, exercise, learning, personal projects, rest, and things you simply enjoy doing.

Is it normal to have a lot of free time in your 20s?

Yes, especially after college when you no longer have classes, roommates, or a built-in social schedule filling your day.

How do I stop wasting all my free time on my phone?

Have a few default alternatives ready, like a show, book, workout, walk, hobby, or project, so scrolling isn't automatically what you do whenever you're bored.

Should I be productive in my free time?

Sometimes, but not constantly. Free time can help you work toward goals, but you also need time for rest, relationships, hobbies, and entertainment.

What can I do alone in my 20s?

Go to the gym, see a movie, get coffee, cook, explore somewhere new, start a hobby, read, work on a personal project, or simply have a night at home.