Where Are You Wasting Your Time?

“When you kill time, you kill your opportunities for success.” — Denis Waitley

Everyone wastes time. A quick search reveals multiple songs and sayings about it. Even though it’s inevitable to waste some time over the course of your life, it doesn’t have to transform into the daily systematic killing of time. This begs the question: Where are you wasting your time?

Some of this is purely about human nature. Humans would rather shock themselves than sit with no stimulation¹. Okay – so science shows that we have to be doing something, but not all somethings are created equal. The average person spends 143 minutes scrolling social media every day². One can argue that will never be as rewarding as reading a few pages of a book or grabbing coffee with a coworker. The same use case can point to the average of 18.1 hours spent a week watching TV and 8.6 hours playing electronic games³. Again, this time could be better spent drawing, writing the next great novel, or accomplishing whatever other personal goals you have for yourself.

Utilize tech to help you focus your time instead of waste it. Install one of many time tracker apps to help you understand where your own time is going. Review over the course of a week or so, then decide if you need to put yourself on a ‘time diet’. We all need downtime and opportunities to let our minds wander, but it’s all about balance. As you review where your time is spent think: Is this where I want to invest my focus? Implement strategies such as turning off notifications for blocks at a time or uninstalling your mobile games. Success is a journey which is built by maximizing each moment you can.

Action: Review where you are wasting your time. Decide where you want to continue to invest your time.

Further Reading:

1. People Prefer Electric Shocks to Tedium
2. What is the average time spent on social media each day?
3. GAMES SECOND ONLY TO TV IN POPULARITY: STUDY