Finding Your Wasted Time

It’s Different For Everyone

Most people hate to waste time. However, not many people have a good grasp on what time is actually wasted. They sit at home and watch an hour of TV and say, “I just wasted an hour.” But, was that time really wasted? Before you can manage your time, you need to figure out what your wasted time is because it differs for every person.

You need to sit down and analyze your day. Are there things you can multitask? Are there things you can drop? Are there things you can do faster?

Be Healthy
The biggest thing to remember is that the most important element in all of this is your health. A lot of people spend a lot of time getting things done; however, they’re never happy and they’re stressed out. So what’s the point? You have to make sure that everything you do is done to better yourself in some way. Sure, there will always be things you don’t want to do, but, if you make sure to reward yourself afterward, you’ll feel much better.

Let’s analyze the first situation we talked about, which is; watching and hour of TV. Now, don’t automatically think just because you’re doing something like watching TV that you’re wasting precious time. What does TV do for you? If you watch TV only out of boredom because you don’t want to do anything else, then you may feel like you’re wasting your time. But, make sure you note how you feel. That’s the most important thing. If you’re stressed out or tired, and an hour of TV relaxes you, then, you’re probably not wasting your time. Remember that it’s all about your health and about how you feel. That’s how you figure out what time of yours is “wasted”.

Cut Corners Safely
Look to cut corners in places that can be cut. Let’s look at a situation with someone and analyze it. Let’s call this “someone”, John Doe. So, here’s what John does: at 7:00 am every morning, John comes down to his kitchen and pops a bagel into the toaster as he pours himself a cup of coffee his wife prepared the night before. As his bagel toasts, John sips his coffee and checks his e-mail on his laptop. When his bagel is finished, he sits back down and munches it while he checks his favorite news/media sites to find out what’s going on in the world. At around 7:30 am, John gets into his car and tunes into his favorite radio and listens to music station while he drives to work; a half hour commute.

Ok, now that whole ordeal took about an hour. If John’s happy with his productivity during that hour, then, there isn’t any problem. Now, let’s say John wants to turn that hour into 30 to 40 minutes so he can sleep longer. Then, what he can do is this: he comes down into his kitchen and pops the bagel in the toaster. He then pours himself the coffee and checks his e-mail while the bagel toasts. When the bagel’s finished, instead of eating it while checking his news/media sites, he takes the bagel to go and eats it in the car. Then, instead of listening to his favorite radio station for music, he can turn on some local news station to get the news he needs. Then, he can just listen to music on his way home from work.

Now, that’s just one way in which that situation can be cut down. Now, although it seems a little odd to analyze every single hour of your day, it will help a lot. You’d be surprised exactly where corners can be cut.

Again, it all depends on you. Maybe that hour John spends in the morning is relaxing. Then that’s fine, there’d be no need to rush it if it puts him in a bad mood the rest of the day. But, if you like a fast-paced morning, then go ahead and make it that way.

It’s Your Time
Remember, it’s only wasted time if you feel that it’s wasted time. Don’t let anyone tell you what time you’re wasting and what time you’re not. Because, you may be the most productive person in the world, but if you’re unhappy, then all that productivity is wasted. Make the best of your day by allowing yourself to enjoy it. Then you won’t feel like you’ve wasted any of your time, because you’ve enjoyed every second of it.