Free Time and Days Off

Nothing particularly exciting, to be honest — a lot of it is reading, cooking something that takes a bit of effort, or going for a wander with no real destination in mind. If I've got a whole evening free I'll usually ring a friend, and we end up talking for far longer than either of us planned. It's all pretty low-key, but that's exactly what I need after a busy week.

It depends how drained I am, but I'd lean towards being on my own, if I'm honest. After a week of meetings and people, a quiet evening by myself is what actually recharges me. That said, I'd go stir-crazy if I did that every single day, so I try to keep a rough balance — a couple of nights out, and the rest to myself.

On a proper day off I make a point of getting out of the house, otherwise I end up doing chores and it doesn't feel like a break at all. Usually that means a long breakfast somewhere, then a walk or a trip to the market with no particular plan. The one rule I stick to is no work email — the moment I open it, the whole day is gone.

Massively, yeah. As a kid I was outside constantly, cycling around the neighbourhood until it got dark and somebody shouted at me to come in. These days my free time is far more indoors and, honestly, far more screen-based, which isn't something I'm particularly proud of. The odd thing is that I've got less energy now but far more choice, and I'm not sure that's a fair trade.

Not really, no — most people I know work long hours and then face a fairly brutal commute on top of that, so by the time they're home there's very little of the evening left. Weekends help, but a lot of people end up cramming errands and family obligations into them. I'd say the free time exists on paper; it's just that not much of it is genuinely theirs.