How do you improve in your free time?

I try to exercise every day. This includes sometimes going to gym, or just visiting a park to play badminton with my wife.

I like to read, although that has taken a back seat for some time. Learning a few new technologies on the time I don’t have anything else to do.

Fwiw, I work remotely, and I generally begin late - around 11 am. I wake up around 6 am, which gives me a good amount of time to do all the things I described, as well as get some house chores done. No commute means anywhere between an hour to two hours saved each day.

After finishing work, I watch a little Netflix or something before sleeping. Of course, all this can vary a little day to day, but that’s my average day.

Weekends, I get into some gaming, getting out of house, eating out etc with friends or family. Just doing nothing and have a quite time to myself is also one of things I really like doing every now and then.

If you want to learn new skills, you need to do it in the morning before work. You should use your freshest mind for yourself, not your employer. I've never had success learning after work, except for the odd day when I am really sharp. Choose a project that interfaces with alot of open source, and really stretches what you think you can do with a computer.

> by the end of the day I'm usually feeling so exhausted that I seem to struggle to do more then lie down as mindless zombie

Fix that part instead. Then your problem is reduced to: "I come from work everyday slightly tired, but overall in a vibrant mood, how can I learn, oh, wait, nevermind."

In your state looking for more tasks is decidedly putting out fire with gasoline.

I would primarily get any FOMO out of my life until you find balance. Identify any inputs in my life (colleagues, motivational videos, messaging channels) that make me feel inferior and force me to work harder and learn more. Reduce these inputs mercilessly. (I can always choose to re-introduce them later.)

This will hopefully give some breathing space, so you could take care about the main problem: can you change any aspect of your current work to stop turning a "mindless zombie" day by day.

Learn new skills early in the morning before work. For instance, right now I spend 1h before work each morning dedicated to learning Flutter.

Keeping work at work.

Getting regular sleep.

Regular exercise. Mostly 15-45 minute walks these days.

Those are all pre-loading to make the skill learning possible.

I get my skills doing long term projects. In terms of 4 years or more. This time I'm writing novels. Writing good long form fiction is hard. Very hard.

I tend to have a time management application that monitors my schedule. Do this. It helps.

I develop my skill outside of office hours by joining a group with similar interests as me.

This way, learning can become fun, and you're interacting with different perspectives simultaneously.

> by the end of the day I'm usually feeling so exhausted that I seem to struggle to do more then lie down as mindless zombie.

I've personally found that exercise helps stop the zombie symptoms. Which helps me focus after work hours.

For developing skills outside of work, try making little projects: games, simple apps... Etc. Having a small scope and clear goals will give you motivation to complete them and in turn hone your skills.

You should read some good book about how we learn.

And take maximum from your work time, and get a good rest afterwards.

Good rest is as important for learning as concentration times.

unpopular opinion: do leetcode