> I'd like to know how other engineers that don't have a strict work schedule manage to organize their spare time without the feeling that you are wasting your

> I'd like to know how other engineers that don't have a strict work schedule manage to organize their spare time without the feeling that you are wasting your precious and short lifetime. The other replies are focusing on how to organize your work, but I'll answer how I avoid feeling like I'm wasting precious time. I think first, you need to ask yourself what do you truly enjoy doing? Organize your life around that. I love surfing/snowboarding (despite still being shit after many years). That is the priority, how do I make sure I have time to do that? I found living east of my colleagues so that I could do that activity in the morning and then work afterward is best for me. Everyone is different of course, but I found doing exercise in the morning and then working clears my head. I find I also need an activity where I can veg out, I like Netflix & video games (not competitive multiplayer ones, those tire me out). I make sure I have some veg time to recover mentally, usually after work. There are things I hate doing, I tried to optimize them out of my life. I only eat Huel, get a takeaway, or eat out. This means, no more cooking, going to supermarkets, washing dishes, and spending mental effort trying to plan meals. Everyone has different things that they hate doing, optimize them out as much as possible. So an ideal day would be: wake up(9am) -> snowboard/surf/gym -> (12pm)work -> veg out/go out for dinner/drinks, the entire day is things I enjoy/want to do which makes it easier to do the things I have to do. I also usually enjoy what I'm working on, which means sometimes every single thing I did that day, is something I wanted to do and enjoyed. tl;dr fill your day with things you want to do, limit things you have to do on days you work. I find it makes it easier to stay motivated whilst working.