Whether you’re at work or at home, there are often down periods in the day when you find you’ve got nothing to do. While some people cherish this feeling, others, perhaps like you, wish they could find something productive to do.
Fortunately, as long as you’ve got a computer or laptop in front of you, there’s no limit to the productive activities you can engage in. If you’re looking to make an improvement to your finances, education, or skillsets, a computer can streamline the process.
Keep reading for our top nine productive things you can do on the computer.
Productive Things to Do on the Computer
Computers are great for playing games and watching funny cat videos on YouTube. However, if you’re not the type of person who enjoys wasting their time, those things don’t hold much appeal for you.
Here are some things that might.
1. Budget Your Household Spendings
One of the most productive things to do on the computer is to optimize your finances. Pull up a spreadsheet and start making categories for revenue and expenses. Make sure you design your spreadsheet to be filled out monthly so you can keep tracking your budget easily.
Start with your monthly revenue. How much money do you bring in each month and from what sources? Make sure every dollar is accounted for.
Next document your expenses. This is where it can get a little tedious. You may have to call the banks, credit card companies, and so on to get accurate numbers on your monthly payments, total debts, etc.
Keep the expenditures separated by recurring bills (cell phone, utilities, internet), debts (mortgage, credit cards, loans), and extraneous expenses (gas, groceries, dining out). Using all the information, take an objective look at where you can cut back and start saving more money.
2. Create To-Do Lists
Most people thrive when they write things down – goals, finances, and to-do lists. For some of us, we’re so busy on any given day that it’s easy for things to fall through the cracks. Unfortunately, this can lead to forgotten work or school assignments, forgetting to pick up children from daycare, or leaving over-due library books in the backseat of the car for months on end.
Writing daily, weekly, and monthly to-do lists are one of the most productive things to do on the computer. A computer makes it easy to designs tables for each to-do list, rather than needing to draw it all out by hand.
3. Respond to Important Emails
It’s amazing how many emails flood our accounts each week. Depending on your job and personal life, you may have hundreds, if not thousands of emails to attend to. It helps if you have the best email app for Mac, Windows, and other platforms to make your job easier.
While it may simply be going through and deleting unnecessary emails, it doesn’t hurt to declutter your inbox. However, you may also find important messages from work, school, or friends. Who knows, you may even find a promotion from one of your favorite retailers that’s too good to be true.
4. Start Learning a New Language
If you’re looking to expand your education, learning a new language is one of the most productive things to do on the computer. Being bilingual or multilingual can come in handy for job promotions, interviews, and resumes.
Amazingly, there are even free multiplatform apps that allow you to learn languages for free. For example, Duolingo is popular and effective and costs nothing to use. But if you want to learn a new language like Spanish more efficiently with a dedicated tutor, you might consider taking Spanish classes online at Preply as well.
6. Find New Hobbies
Some people use websites like Pinterest and YouTube to find new hobbies or passions. This is one of the productive things you can do on the computer, even if the hobby you find has nothing to do with technology.
For example, you may find DIY projects, crafts, sports, or other things online that catch your attention.
7. Learn a New Skill
Similarly, using a computer to start honing a new skill is a great way to use your time and the technology at hand. For nearly any skill, craft, hobby, or project, you can bet there are tutorials on the internet.
Pinterest is the king of DIY – art, food, home improvement, decor, and so on. However, YouTube can be a fantastic source for looking up instructional videos for learning new techniques.
8. Start Writing a Book
Writing a book is one of the most creative and productive things to do on the computer. If you’ve been juggling around a story in your head, why not put it on paper (or the screen).
The best thing about typing a story is that the computer streamlines the process. Typing is faster than handwriting and the computer makes it incredibly easy to make changes. The computer will even assist you in finding mistakes and telling you how to correct them.
9. Stay Up-to-Date on World News
Lastly, while some people really enjoy diving deep into news and politics, it may not be your thing. However, it’s always important to know what’s going on in the world around us, both domestically and abroad.
Keeping up on world news is one of the more productive things to do on the computer in small bouts of spare time. Check-in with any major events happening in our country, then start expanding to international news.
Looking for More Information?
Even though it feels like we’re always to busy to get anything done, there are tons of breaks in the day we waste staring off into space, playing games on our phones, or scrolling through social media. The truth is, if we spent that time on productive things to do on the computer, we could get a lot done.
If you’re looking for more information or advice, be sure to check out some of our other articles. You might find something that sparks your interest. We have information on everything from fashion to politics.
Good luck and remember to spend your time wisely.
