Do
Actions to take
- Use a watch
- Set alarms at regular intervals to reflect on day’s progress
- Intentionally waste time
Remember
Expanded perspective
You are meant for something greater, something better than what you are today. You do have a long list of goals and dream that you want to achieve. There are those small tasks as well, which you want to practice every single day. This all seems clear but every day just goes by and you are just wasting time every single day.
Understand yourself better
You do so many things in a day, some planned some unplanned. If you are seeing a pattern where the planned things are off the track and you are doing so many other things, it’s time to take a pause. You need to understand why you are leaving the planned and important things behind.
Are they not that important?
Do you have better things to do instead?
If the answer to these questions is “YES“, feel free to skip the article and move on.
If the answer is “NO” then you need more control over your time. You can’t just let the time pass by. You have to make full use of it.
Let’s do it tomorrow
We have all put things off for tomorrow. It becomes a problem when tomorrow never comes. Feel free to do it once in a while but don’t put important things for tomorrow. Getting important things done on time leads to amazing results in the long run. The longer you keep procrastinating on important things, the more energy they will drain from your thoughts.
Here is everything you need to know about overcoming procrastination.
Important things take a lot of mental space. Keeping important things on hold leads to more worry and added pressure. This also affects the other stuff you have to get done. Your mind will always take you back to that important task which is still pending.
If you often put things off for tomorrow, it can be a habit in the making.
Is it a habit?
What are those tasks that are filling in your day instead of the important tasks?
Time wasting is not a habit but wasting time on distractions during work hours is.
You are drawn to them for instant pleasure and dopamine rush you get from spending time on distractions. It is
We feel aware and mindful about a habit like running in the morning, but it is difficult to identify the habit of automatically unlocking the phone and scrolling through social media feed.
Watch you time?
Understand the patterns in your day which are acting as resistance to your plans. Be mindful about where you are spending your time throughout the day. You don’t have to overthink about it, as it will also be wasting time.
One of the simple things you can do is to perform a few checks in your day. Set a few alarms in your phone and review the time you have spent so far. You can break it into 3 time slots like afternoon, evening and night. Just take a few minutes and think about what your were supposed to do and how things actually happened. This will help you be mindful of the next few hours and also set the tone for the remaining day.
Buy a simple watch to make sure you don’t pull out your phone to check the time and get distracted. Phones are full of distractions and it is difficult to get away from it when it is in your hand. Having a watch will allow you to be more mindful of the time without distractions. But just wearing a watch will not change things. Watch is a tool that can help you, but you will also have to act accordingly.
Take away
Understand the pattern of wasting time and make sure it is not a habit. Watching TV is not wasting time if you know you are intentionally doing it. But if you are sucked into binge-watching, keeping aside important things that you need to get done, there is a problem. Be mindful of how you spend your time and things will be so much in your control.
What is your biggest time waster?
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