Stop Wasting Your Time!

Some time ago, I have expressed my frustration about being unproductive lately through an article that I published titled, "Stop Procrastinating and Start Being Productive!". I badly want to be productive again because it's been weeks already that I feel like I haven't been accomplishing anything worthwhile. It's like I'm just doing the same routine every single day and it makes me feel that I'm just wasting my precious time.

I drafted this article more than a month ago so this paragraph is irrelevant already since I'm back to my productive self again. Ehe! 😹

Meanwhile, have you ever felt like you had a very productive day yet at the end of the day, before you sleep at night, you get to assess how your day went, and you just end up concluding that you didn't get to accomplish anything at all?

Sometimes, I feel like this, where I just sigh and wonder, "What did I do the whole day?" as I try to count how many worthwhile things I did and if I couldn't count even just up to 5 things, I feel awful that a day passed by just like that.

There are many things we do every day, but sometimes, most of these things aren't productive at all. And I am guilty of that. So here are some of the things that I end up wasting my precious time on and maybe some of you too.

So Stop Wasting Your Time On:

1. Social Media

Are you also the kind of person who would immediately open your social media accounts right after you wake up in the morning? You grab your phone, tap on the Facebook app, scroll up and down, switch to the next app, perhaps Twitter or Instagram, scroll up and down on your feed, then close the app again. You would do this over and over until the next thing you know, you already spent an hour or two just browsing on social media. And then you would do the same thing again after accomplishing one task. And again and again, until the last thing you do at night is to still check your social media.

I am most guilty of this one. I spend most of my precious time on social media. There are times when I tell myself that I'll just check it for 5 minutes but I end up wasting more time there. Sometimes, I even get to spend an hour or 2 watching random videos on Facebook. Although they are all informative videos, sometimes entertaining, I'm still wasting my time since I could have just used it to something more productive.

2. Comparisons

While Social Media is just a tool that people use, sometimes, it's also the root of comparison where a person would feel inferior over the other.

Whenever we browse on social media and we see our friends and former classmates who are already achieving so much in life, we couldn't help but compare ourselves to them. We would question ourselves and even doubt our capabilities because we couldn't see and feel any progress in our journeys.

I am also guilty of this one. Whenever I see Facebook posts of my colleagues where they are already getting hired, I just feel like I'm already left behind. However, I just keep on reminding myself that we don't have the same priorities in life. And there is no exact definition of what success and happiness are because it differs for everyone.

3. Pretending to be productive

Sometimes, because we want to feel like we're being productive, we pretend like we are actually doing something, when in fact, we're not getting things done at all.

We pretend to be productive by doing a lot of things at the same time, filling a lot of tasks in a very small period. We tend to do things all at once, which end up just consuming more of our time than if we try to do things one at a time.

We should know the difference between being "busy" and being "productive". Being busy is furious, fueled by perfectionism, and is about working harder. On the other hand, being productive is focused, fueled by purpose, and about working smarter.

So if you actually want to be productive, stop wasting your time pretending and start being focused and working smarter.

4. Waiting

Are you also the kind of person who loves to "wait for the perfect time" before doing something that you want to do? Well, I am also like that. But I have realized that we should stop waiting for the perfect time, instead, we should start making the time perfect. Because what if the perfect time you've been waiting for won't come? Then you're just wasting your time waiting for something that will never come. So instead of waiting for the perfect time, just make the time perfect.

But of course, nothing beats God's perfect timing for everything. However, just like a Filipino quote says, "Nasa tao ang gawa, nasa Diyos ang awa". (A man has to work to gain mercy from God.)

Some of us probably also spend our time regretting the things we did and didn't do, dwelling in the past, getting angry over every little thing, fearing the uncertainties of life, and thinking and planning so much about the future.

Life is too short for us to just waste our precious time on these unimportant things. So instead of spending your time on these things, why don't you just spend it with your family and friends and create memorable moments with them? Always remember that time wasted can never be taken back so spend your time wisely.