There's nothing that I hate more than wasting time. Anytime I find myself doing it, I feel disgusted. This is because I know I could be spending my time doing so many other useful things.
I brainstormed six things that I believe are the ultimate time wasters. I'm sure there are others, but these take the cake in most circumstances. I also throw in my tips for overcoming each time waster.
Let's not waste any time and jump in. ⏱
~Mindless Scrolling~
I'm 99% positive that mindless scrolling is what most of us waste time on. I hate catching myself doing this. The worst is when half a day flies by and I look back on what I accomplished and the answer is nothing. Thanks to mindless scrolling. Mindless scrolling is when you're just sitting on your phone scrolling with no intention or goal in mind. This happens a lot on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. You're looking at other people's photos, comments, statuses, posts...but you're really not accomplishing much for yourself other than wasting your own time. Oh, and consuming everyone else's energy, thoughts, opinions, etc. and impacting your own in ways that probably aren't beneficial.
TIP: If your phone allows you, go in your settings and enable "screen time" so your phone can show you how much time you spend on certain apps. It's embarrassing to see that four hours of your entire day was spent on Twitter. Also, if mindless scrolling is something you find yourself doing a lot, have a moment with yourself and think about what you're gaining from it. Try to have a goal in mind whenever you go on social media. Is it inspiration? Entertainment? Mute/unfollow people who aren't contributing anything useful to your social media time! Personally, I try to pay attention to people I truly know and interact with on a regular basis or that I can learn something from. If I follow anyone that doesn't fit that criteria, they're on mute!
~Giving Energy To Negativity~
There's some people that live for doing this and their life revolves around it, people that find themselves doing it occasionally, and people that have mastered the art of IGNORING. The most beneficial person to be is the last kind, but sometimes, we can't help ourselves! Everyone is different. Some of us are more confrontational, defensive, and pessimistic. However, giving a huge chunk of your energy to negativity is literally doing nothing but wasting your time. By negativity, I mean rude things that people are saying about you on their page (indirectly), being consumed energy-wise by people that aren't positive at all, etc.
TIP: If you find yourself spending a lot of time interacting with people and things that aren't bringing any positivity to your life, try ignoring it for a week and see if your life feels any different. For example: If there's someone who insists on always posting mean things about you to get a reaction, try not going to their page for an entire week. I promise you'll notice a difference in your life. Block/mute people, don't respond, ignore, walk away.
~Sleeping TOO Much~
We all love getting some good shut-eye. Although, sleeping too much isn't contributing anything to your life and is probably making you more tired and groggy than you realize. Personally, I function best off of 5-7 hours of sleep. This is the amount of sleep I get on a regular basis now. Before, I used to sleep for 10+ hours, because my sleep schedule was all out of whack. Now, I wake up early and I get to enjoy my entire day while getting much more done. Guys, we can sleep when we're dead. Imagine getting all those extra hours back and doing something useful with that time.
TIP: Take control of your sleep schedule. Try going to sleep and waking up at the same time for an entire two weeks. Watch how much of a difference it makes. I promise you'll feel a lot better and more alert and awake. You'll be able to stay up all day without taking random naps throughout the day. You'll get more done too, which always feels amazing.
~Jealousy~
A huge time waster. It doesn't do anything for you, at all. Wasting time being jealous of other people isn't going to get you the things you want in life and it's not going to help you progress. Being jealous is unnecessary. Jealousy is so toxic and it makes people not want to be around you. I believe we've all experienced being jealous before in our lives, but there's definitely levels to jealousy and I'll talk about that in a future blog post, because whew. It can go really deep. *Yikes*
TIP: If you're in a relationship where you constantly feel jealous, ask yourself why you feel jealous. Does your partner do things that give you reasons to be jealous? Well, maybe that person isn't the one for you. Does seeing other people succeed make you feel jealous? Well figure out what it is about yourself that you don't like that makes you jealous of others' happiness and success, because that's not a them problem, it's a you problem.
~Worrying~
This is probably the one I deal with the most in my life. I'm a Virgo, and we're notorious for being worrywarts. I worry about every little thing way more than I should. If you can relate, just know that we're both wasting our time. You're contributing nothing to your life by worrying constantly about things you have no control over. It's okay to be concerned about things here and there, but if you're just sitting there mindlessly worrying, then that's different.
TIP: First, ask yourself if what you're worried about is even something you should be worried about. Is it something that you'll remember a week, a month, or a year from now? If it's something that you might not even remember within a year, then you're probably wasting your time. If it is something that has a huge impact on your life or possibly could, approach the situation with curiosity rather than anxiousness. "Instead of sitting here stressing myself out in my own head, how can I actively solve this problem? What can I do to achieve the outcome that I want with this issue?" Focus on what you can do in situations rather than what you can't control.
~Not Having CLEAR Goals~
If you're just floating through life passively without working towards achieving anything that'll make you happy, what are you doing with your time? I will be doing an upcoming blog post on this in more detail but -- ask yourself if what you're doing now is going to result in looking back on a life you're not really proud of. If the answer is yes, then your goals aren't clear. Maybe you have an idea of where you'd like to be, but you haven't established how you're going to get there. That's a problem.
TIP: Have some alone time and really contemplate what your dream life looks like. Maybe it looks like living in the hills with tons of money along with an intriguing career. Perhaps it's living in the mountains with the love of your life. Maybe its simply happiness. Every single day, ask yourself, "What can I do today to progress towards my dream life?" I highly recommend doing at least one significant thing every single day that will help you be one step closer to the life you want to live. You'll feel so much better waking up every day knowing that you contributed time to your life goals the day before. You'll be there in due time. Trust me.
Spend your time wisely!
I truly hope this post helped open some of your eyes to what you may be doing with your time on a regular basis. If you really want to take control over what you're doing with your life, time, goals, and more - I totally recommend the Artist of Life Workbook by Lavendaire. Utilizing my workbook this year, I've already noticed a difference in what I spend my time doing. I'm so much closer to living the life I want in only two months, and the workbook has helped me flesh out my goals in a clear way.
Stay tuned for upcoming blog posts very similar to this one. ♡
Until then, need relaxation advice to clear your head? Read my blog on how I relax my heart, soul, body, and mind.
xo babes, Variety Princess
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