How much time to you get to yourself?

My main hobby is cooking, so it's much harder to get alone time indulging an activity that doesn't require me to leave the house.

I'm going back to grad school soon, though, so I'm pretty nervous about how I'm possibly going to find enough time to get through my coursework.

 

My kids are very young, and I've got another on the way.
Almost zero time to myself now and for the next year or so.

MC, I'm not going to lie to you, kiss what little free time you have good-bye when you start grad school.
Much like banging your head against a wall, it feels fantastic when you're done, though.

 

Meh. I spent about 30 minutes a day on average doing masters coursework. You just have to choose the right field of study! (Education, in my case)

As to the original question -- about 24 hours a day.

 

Right now, my son's upstairs in a therapy session and my dog and daughter are asleep on the couch next to me. This is as close to free time as I get.

 

I'm kind of glad I don't have a whole lot of time to myself right now. My best little buddy cat died on the operating table this morning. She would crawl up in the crook of my arm and fall asleep as I watched TV late at night.

 

Condolences, shotty. Always tough when a pet dies.

 

Thanks, Cosmo. I appreciate that more than you know.

 

Wife and I both are off Sundays after working Saturdays and we've more or less agreed it's a day of rest, although we do get up in time to attend the 11 a.m. church service probably three times a month (I work at night). It's my day to read, watch whatever sports are in season on TV and drink a few beers. My other day off is filled with errands, handling bills and the household budget and "honey-do" projects, but I'm usually able to relax at night.

On work days, I MIGHT have an hour to myself. Always up by 9:30 (if not earlier) to feed the dogs. Run errands and take care of household chores for the next few hours. My night work shift runs anywhere from eight to nine hours, along with 45-minute commutes there and back because I live 35 miles from the office. There's not much "time to myself" left over, and I usually don't get much more than six hours of sleep, which concerns me (and my doctor) occasionally.

 

Condolences from me, as well. Wife and I have been through a lot of that over the years.

 

Very sorry, Shotty.

 

To answer the question, as a single guy, way less than you might think. Though I'm a pretty social person who spends a lot of nights out with friends. I had yesterday off from work and spent most of it by myself at the house, cooking, watching TV and hockey, playing some video games ... it's good to recharge every once in a while. Too much of that and I start getting a little FOMO-ey though.

 

Some friends of ours -- another married couple, though much younger than us, with three kids at home -- have in the master bedroom two 50-inch TVs and two XBox consoles, so they have continued their gaming ways after marriage and parenthood.