[QUOTE=Khema]so you want to 'get a life' and immediately fill up your recently acquired free time (=time for yourself) with 'useful' activities?
why not take it slowly at first, enjoy true freedom when your life is not schedule driven, and every hour after work is another chance to find out what you really like to do?
I agree with this. Try to enjoy just relaxing...whether walking around the city, reading a book, having a drink at the local pub...
I think you're falling into the trap that most of us fall into. We forget how to just 'be' and instead we're compelled to do something productive (i.e. mandarin). I'm guilty of this too!
I think as a society, we've forgotten how to relax...think there was a recent article how employees also fail to use all of their vacation days in most countries. Are we going to work ourselves to death?