Many people in the world would argue that there is just not enough time in the day to do certain things. Work, life, or other mainstream events just get in the way, and to an extent they definitely do. Who wants to do anything productive once they get home from work after a long day or after they’ve come back from a big meal post-dinner time? All you want to do is kick back and relax on your couch and most likely put on the TV in the background and scroll through social media to ‘catch up’ on things you missed during the day. This is terrible and a complete waste of time! Don’t do it!

Warren Buffet, Bill Gates, and Oprah Winfrey have incorporated the 5-hour rule into their lives. The 5-hour rule is based on the fact that if you’re not spending at least 5 hours a week learning (and this can be on anything) then you’re officially wasting your time.

I didn’t even know this was a thing until I stumbled upon it one day and it resonated with me a lot. Think about it, how often do you actually spend time learning something new? I know university did a number on us with all the midterms, finals and homework assignments but that doesn’t mean you need to stop! Post-school is when you have the time and the chance to learn about anything that YOU want to learn about. The ball is officially in your court, so why not take advantage of it?

Let me share with you all the things I use in order to learn what I am interested in, and then how I incorporate them into my day.

• Reading Books (I have a very large and wide array of books)

• Audiobooks - through Audible

• News Resources

• Business Insider (My #1)

• LinkedIn (believe it or not it can be a great place for news articles)

• Techcrunch (great for tech-related news)

• Bloomberg

• CNBC

• Wall Street Journal

• Podcasts (through Spotify)

• Magazines

• Duolingo (learning languages)

These are all the things I use in order for me to learn what I need to learn. Now the real question, how do I incorporate them?

Your Morning Commute

Me personally, I take the subway every day to work and will then work anywhere between 12 - 20hrs (sporadic I know but that’s Wall Street). So many things I used to do while in college was to optimize my time during my commute. Granted I take the metro so I always consistently see people listening to music or scrolling through social media. I thought to myself, this is such a waste of time! I would commute for 30 - 45min each way and I could easily be doing something productive. Thus, my love for books was born!

Reading on your commute is a great use of your time. Visit your local bookstore and pick up a book you think you might be interested in. Being able to read 10 - 20 pages each way on your commute is still a lot better than not reading at all and you’re still learning!

For those of you that drive to work or are always moving on your commute, clearly reading a book is not an obvious choice unless you want to get in an accident but this is where I discovered audiobooks. Yes, books that you listen to! It’s as if you are being read a story to someone while doing all the other stuff important in your life, and guess what, still learning!

I used Audible, and they have a great selection of books and for $15 a month, you get a free book every month plus discounts or access to cheap books at random times. Also, another great feature is that you can keep the books even if you cancel the membership.

During Your Workday

If I woke up and felt that I didn’t want to read a book or hear a story, I would still try to catch up with the news of the world (or country). This can be done on your morning commute but I found I had more time throughout the day while at work. Odds are, you’re not working every second of every minute you’re at work so you’ll have downtime. In this downtime, you should just flip through news sites and dive into what’s going on outside your work desk.

10 or 20 minutes a day reading on topics you find interesting will definitely add up by the end of the week and your knowledge in topics will show in conversation.

I've gotten really into podcasts and have listed a few of my favorite ones below, explicitly to learn new things:

• The Tim Ferriss Show

• Freakonomics Radio

• Bigger Pockets

• Stuff You Should Know

• Ted Talks Daily

Try incorporating some of the news resources I mentioned above, most are free, and take a look at some of these podcasts! Your mind will thank you.

Post Work

Your natural instincts are going to want to hop on the couch and watch tv but don’t fall into that trap! * Que Star Wars meme *

Optimize your time! Read a magazine or a book. While you’re cooking, continue playing that audiobook you were listening to, or if you need to watch Netflix (which you don’t), play a documentary and learn something! I’ve said it about 100 times in this post but that’s so it can be ingrained in your head.

The next time you want to do something unproductive, stop and think for a second if this will make you a better person after you’re done.

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