How To Manage Your Time Between Work and Volunteering
Since the beginning of the Covid pandemic in March 2022, most businesses moved towards a remote environment. Those lucky to be able to work from the comfort of their home, or from anywhere in the world for that matter, certainly realized the importance and value of a healthy life-work balance. Not wasting time on commuting to and from work oftentimes gives you that extra energy boost and motivation to go the extra mile at work which sometimes leads to voluntary overtime.
With more freedom and time to spare, working remotely makes it easier for those looking for volunteering opportunities. Needless to say, there are many ways you could volunteer — both remotely and in person — yet, sometimes it’s not all that easy to manage your time between work and after work. In this article, we’ll discuss some of the most common issues that get in the way for those of us willing to volunteer at the local communities, and how they could be dealt with.
You’d like to volunteer at more than one place…
It’s 5pm and your day at work is over. Now it’s time to get to the fun stuff: in our case, volunteering! The problem with that, though, can be that you find it hard to choose one project to take part in. You could help out at a dog shelter, visit children in orphanages, pick up trash from the local park, or help distribute donations to those in need. But the issue with that is obvious: you can’t be everywhere at the same time.
For those ambitious enough to want to volunteer at several places, you’d really need to focus on planning out your time efficiently. Here are some points to keep in mind when working on your task diary:
- Shelters: Check if they have dedicated days and/or times when visitors can stop by. If they do, try to pick one day of the week to devote to the animal shelter. The same would apply to any other institution you would need to visit in person. Don’t stress yourself out by trying to cramp in as many visits as possible: you might lose that positive energy which would be a shame because positive attitudes make an impact!
- Donations & distribution: Different organizations collect donations, including clothing, food, and school materials, and need help with transportation and distribution. Quite often, this takes place on weekends which would allow you to free up some time throughout the week. Reach out to those non-profits, such as the British Red Cross, and check their websites to find out on which days they need volunteers!
- Cleaning up the environment: Similarly to helping out with donation distributions, cleaning up parks and other green spaces oftentimes takes place on the weekends. It’s also a great way to meet people or to spend time with your family while helping protect your local environment.
…and then there are all those online volunteering opportunities, too.
Volunteering has gone to a whole new level thanks to Covid (as awkward as that might sound). Numerous volunteering opportunities are now possible which might not have been the case as recently as 2 years ago. Now, you can volunteer as an English teacher and to share your skills and knowledge with others while sitting comfortably at home. There are many lesson plans to cover when volunteering online — whether you’re working with kids or adults.
The advantages of offering courses and workshops online is not only that you don’t have to be somewhere physically, but you can also manage your time conveniently. Do keep in mind that with various platforms available worldwide, the different time zones could be an issue. Make sure you don’t mix up the different time zones, if you plan on juggling several, and do make sure to take a break from the screen from time to time.
All in all, it’s important to plan out your time so as to avoid stressing out and a possible burnout. If you feel like you need to talk to a pro on the topic of volunteering, feel free to reach out to 1HOUR — you’ll find a great source of information on volunteering opportunities, success stories, and real-life volunteering experience from across the world!
