In this article we will look at how not to waste time, and also understand what the expression “wasted time” means.
How much time do you waste on useless activities?
Remember how many times over the past few days you have said: “I just don’t have enough time .
You know what? You will never have enough time. You will never achieve everything you want. This is impossible.
However, there are sacrifices you can make to achieve greater results. You may not realize it, but you are wasting a lot of time . Below we will explain why?
“Sometimes you just want to have a good time. But you won’t pass the time.”
Want to help everyone around
Helping people is certainly necessary if you care about their well-being. But you cannot sacrifice yourself and put your interests, responsibilities and emotional health on the altar of relationships. By wasting yourself on helping everyone you meet, you burn out mentally and lose strength. Which could lead to something really interesting and necessary.
If you spend more time on others than on yourself, in most cases it’s time to at least think about it. And as a maximum, start taking care of your condition and peace of mind.
Phrases and quotes about time and its significance from great people
Alcohol, hashish, hydrocyanic acid and strychnine are just weak solutions. The surest poison is time. Ralph Waldo Emerson
I never watch the clock: time was created for man, not man for time. Francois Rabelais
People spend their lives in anticipation, determined to indulge in serene happiness sometime later, when they find time for it. But the present has one advantage over any other time: it belongs to us. Past opportunities have passed, the future has not yet arrived. We can store up pleasures for future use, as we would stock up on wine; but if we delay too much in using them, we will find that both have become sour over time! Charles Caleb Colton
Seize this hour before it slips away from you. Moments of life that are truly great and significant are rare. Friedrich Schiller
Time is the test of all inclinations, all feelings, all connections... Vissarion Belinsky
Time is a strange guy: he gives more than he takes (and he takes everything). Edward Estlin Cummings
Time calms, time clears, no mood can remain unchanged for several hours in a row. Thomas Mann
Time has a great ability to give validity to everything - even in the field of morality. Henry Louis Mencken
All we have to decide is what to do with the time we are given. John Ronald Rael Tolkien
I have to manage the clock myself, and not let the clock control me. Golda Meir
Wait for the right moment
Let's remember the famous Soviet sideboard, in which the best dishes in the house were stored - a source of pride for the owners. Perhaps someone still has something similar in their apartment. Now remember: how often did someone use this utensil? Did they get it at all? Most often, the sets were saved until “better times.” Which, as a rule, never came.
In the same way, most people postpone their desires to the “beautiful far away.” They come up with conditions: when I do this, then... But at this rate, what I want may never come true. If you long for something, strive for it with all your soul, then act. The best time is now.
Short quotes about time
Time changes everything - except for something inside us that is always surprised by the change. Thomas Hardy
The past has undoubtedly been great, but I truly believe that the future will be even more wonderful. Swami Vivekananda
The arguments of time are stronger than the arguments of reason. Thomas Paine
Sooner or later, everything happens to everyone - as long as there is enough time. George Bernard Shaw
As we speak, merciless time is flying away. Seize this day, trusting the next one as little as possible. Horace
There is enough time for everything. Thomas Edison
To secure the future, you must respect the past and not trust the present. Joseph Joubert
What use is immortality to a man who cannot make good use of even half an hour? Ralph Waldo Emerson
Modern man believes that he loses something - time - when he does not do something quickly enough. However, he does not know what to do with the time he gains - he only knows how to kill it. Erich Fromm
The ability to concentrate and use time well is everything. Lee Iacocca
Compete with others
If you have a desire to become a professional and an expert in some field, then this is commendable and there is nothing to worry about. Spending time on self-development and improving your life is the right thing to do. But if you compete with your acquaintance or friend about who has a better life, this is a pointless exercise.
You don’t have to prove anything to anyone or do anything, acquire something, just to rub someone’s nose. It's a dead-end situation that forces you into a lifestyle that probably isn't right for you. And all this wastes money, energy and time that you could spend with great benefit and pleasure.
We'll talk later
Time management expert Craig Jarrow once said that the biggest time wasters are messages and emails.
Chats, private messages, disgusting spam that comes in email - all this causes you to be distracted, turning your attention to things that are not worth your time. And you need to respond to messages, you need to participate in discussions, and all this wastes time and sometimes emotions, because not all messages are equally pleasant
So just turn off your phone, don’t go on social networks and work calmly. Consider that you have eliminated your main irritant.
Taking insults for constructive criticism
If you ask someone for their opinion on your work, and the response you get is a short “It’s bullshit” or worse, don’t get upset. Criticism is, of course, the engine of progress, but only if it is accompanied by explanations and arguments.
A response from the outside should help you look at something from a different angle and expand your vision. If in response you receive empty negativity, you must not give up, much less overreflect. Thus, you are simply wasting your time, and the “critic” at this moment continues to live without remembering you.
Agree to something so as not to offend the person
Caring about the feelings of others is not a bad thing. But if it turns into spinelessness and inability to refuse, then first of all you are doing something bad to yourself.
Of course, if a person really asks for company and has gone somewhere with you more than once, why not support him? But if such a system only works one way (not yours), stop thinking about other people's feelings. Do what is interesting and important to you. And don’t waste time coming up with excuses, because saying “No, I don’t want to” is much easier and more honest.
Why do we waste time
Precious hours are eaten up by bad habits. There are five of them. To stop wasting time, try to get rid of them all.
Wrong thinking
How often do you use the expression “if only” in life? Probably every day. People tend to evaluate what happened from this position. Often thoughts are too far from reality. Trying to build an ideal magical world, a person forgets about pressing matters. He steals time from himself.
Constant complaints about things beyond our control
It could be anything: rainy weather, a neighbor who started repairs early on Saturday morning, insufficient economic development in the country. Please note that if you often complain and start conversations on such topics, it’s time to sound the alarm. Complaining has no value. It's a waste of time, irritation and bad mood. Why not replace them with important and pleasant information?
Aimless disappearance on social networks
It is difficult to argue with the fact that the Internet has become a part of every person’s life. Moreover, many are so immersed in the virtual world that they forget about reality. In other cases, everything is not so bad, but there is a problem. Have you noticed how you wait for the next message, wander aimlessly through groups on social networks in search of news, or look at photos? This takes hours. Try to allocate no more than an hour a day to surf the Internet, for example, 30 minutes in the morning and evening. You are guaranteed to get a lot of free time.
The desire to do everything at once
Do several things at once and you will notice how quickly you feel mentally and physically tired. The human brain is capable of controlling the execution of a small number of tasks. The ideal option is 1 task for the designated period of time. Otherwise, you won't accomplish anything useful during your working day.
Lack of organization in things and affairs
Clutter at home or in the workplace takes a lot of time to clean up. A much more economical option is to devote a few minutes every day to maintaining order. Organization is also needed in business. The lack of a routine or a clear plan of action is a direct path to a pointless waste of time resources.
Follow advice blindly
Communicating with knowledgeable people, watching training videos, reading books, articles and highlighting something new and useful for yourself is certainly the right thing to do. But it's important to remember that not all good advice applies equally to everyone. You can spend a lot of time getting used to something, but in the end life will not improve, but will only get worse. For example, waking up early is not suitable for everyone. And although many people advise getting up early in the morning, this does not mean that you will immediately become more productive and that this will help you. There is a possibility that everything will turn out differently.
Therefore, approach experiments carefully. Think about what you are going to implement, and do not rush to try everything that is recommended to you. Listen to yourself, your body and sensations. They will tell you how to act.
Let's learn not to waste time
Mastering the science of time management - the science of time management
The principles of time management can be used not only at work, but also at home. They will help you manage your time in such a way that you will have much more personal time for relaxation.
One of them is the Pareto principle, or the 80/20 rule, which states: 80% of the result is achieved with 20% of the effort. The remaining 20% of the result requires 80% of the effort. Therefore, if you properly distribute time and effort, then the greatest results can be achieved with little effort.
For this to happen, in the evening you need to think about tomorrow’s affairs and make a list of upcoming tasks. It is important to write them down on paper so that you can cross them out later. It’s a small thing, but it evokes a feeling of satisfaction and adds enthusiasm.
You need to plan from large tasks to small ones, indicating specific deadlines for their completion. A large amount of work is divided into several parts. 20% of the time spent thinking about ways to solve a problem will save 80% of the time when solving it directly.
Another principle of time management is prioritizing tasks in accordance with the “Eisenhower Matrix.” The work schedule of the 34th American President D. Eisenhower was very busy, and to optimize it, he developed a “matrix”, which is now used by people all over the world. He came to the conclusion that important things are often not urgent, and urgent ones are not always important, so he divided them into 4 groups: important and unimportant, urgent and not urgent.
- In the 1st group he included important and urgent matters. These matters cannot be delayed. It is desirable that this cell in the matrix table remains empty or contains no more than one or two cases. If there are more of them there, it means that the priorities are determined incorrectly, and force majeure is inevitable (for example, acute toothache, defending a thesis, a burst pipe in the bathroom, etc.).
- In the 2nd - important, but not urgent. If you give up on them, they can become important and urgent (for example, a preventive examination at the dentist, collecting material for a thesis, replacing plumbing fixtures).
- In the 3rd - urgent, but not important (unscheduled phone call, meeting).
- In the 4th - not urgent and not important. Such things can be called chronophages - time eaters (watching uninformative programs, undeveloping games, meaningless conversations).
Those who, thanks to the matrix, have learned to prioritize their affairs, confirm that they have become more collected and organized.
The Pomodoro Method will prevent us from getting bored with work, which means we won’t waste time just to avoid it. The method involves 5-minute breaks after every 25 minutes of work. Having completed 4 such cycles, we extend the break to half an hour. A timer will help us keep track of time (the method is named after the tomato-shaped timer).
“Stop being disgusted, eat a frog!” - recommends Brian Tracy, who is called the psychologist of success, in a book with that title. By frog he means the most difficult and unpleasant task, which he advises to do first thing in the morning. Having finished with it, we will ensure ourselves a great mood for the whole day. “If you eat a frog first thing in the morning,” wrote Mark Twain, “the rest of your day will be wonderful.”
If we don’t overcome ourselves and “eat a frog for breakfast,” the thought of an unpleasant task will haunt us and spoil our mood, no matter what we do. Although, most likely, we will not do anything concrete.
Learning to say “no”
In 2008, the film “Always Say Yes” was released in cinemas about a man whose life was not going well because he answered “no” to every proposal. And she changed dramatically for the better when he began to say “yes.” The slogan of the film is “One word can change your life.” The lives of those who cannot refuse can change just as dramatically when they learn to say “no.”
Helpless people waste their personal time because they fulfill other people's requests, listen to empty conversations and, in fact, live someone else's life. They say that before you say “yes” to someone, think about whether you are thereby saying “no” to yourself, your affairs and desires.
Putting things in order
Searching for the right thing takes a lot of time: we all know where to get it, but for some reason we forget to put it where we are looking for it after we have used it. During the search, we are distracted by extraneous matters that interest us, then we realize that, by the way, almost half a day has already passed. As a result, searching takes us more time than putting things in order.
The habit of getting rid of trash on time saves time, and the trash basket is called an effective time management tool.
Setting your mood
They say how you start your day is how you spend it. We got up in the morning thinking that “everything is bad”, we didn’t want to do anything, and that’s how we programmed ourselves for the whole day. And then we are surprised that the day was wasted! The mood requires setting: so we don’t push ourselves, but think about the bonuses that await us ahead as a reward for a successful day. We tell ourselves: “Have a nice day! - and get to work.
Blocking social networks on your work computer
If we cannot resist the temptation and from time to time we look to see if something new has appeared there. We came in for a minute, but at best the hour didn’t happen. You can sit there all day, as there are plenty of sites for communication. You also need to upload a photo, which should have been corrected beforehand. So the day passed, as it turned out - in vain!
It’s not so easy to get rid of such an addiction, once you’ve fallen into it, but it’s possible. You only have to disconnect from social networks for a week to understand that their role in our lives is not at all paramount.
© Elena Timoshenko, BBF.RU
Identify your illnesses via Google
Yes, reading health articles and studying expert comments is useful. However, diagnosing yourself is, to put it mildly, a so-so idea. Moreover, in such cases we do not limit ourselves to just studying the articles. After reading, people usually turn to self-medication, which in itself is dangerous.
If you are sick with something, you should go to the doctor, and not waste time and money going to the pharmacy for something that you may not need. Remember that when you self-medicate, you are missing out on time to fight the real disease that a doctor could diagnose you with.
Sometimes this is critical.
Get rid of useless apps
Another nasty thing that seems to be supposed to relax a decent hard worker during his well-deserved break, but in fact it simply distracts him from work. Accordingly, it may seem that the only way to deal with this problem is to remove all applications, leaving only the necessary ones. This is a way out of the situation, but there is a less bloody way that is suitable for those who, without such breaks, are like a smoker without cigarettes. Download puzzles and applications that are considered educational and useful. Just don’t justify Subway Surfers by saying that it develops manual dexterity and breadth of thinking; it’s better to play chess or answer questions. And you don’t need to tell me that your brain needs a smoke break after hard work - it’s not a weakling like you, it just needs a reason to take a break from work. So do it usefully, with applications that seem to keep your brain in good shape, and not dull you with methodical, mesmerizing and completely meaningless actions. After such applications it is much easier to adjust to the working rhythm.
