How Not to Waste Time

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Time is our most important currency. I have not met anyone who has not told me that there is not enough time in the day to accomplish what they need to do. The question I usually have for them is how are they using their time.

Just to give you an example, it is estimated that the average person spends close to 7 hours online daily, most of it on social media. We are all given 24 hours a day, however, someone could use that time to pursue their dreams, ambitions, and goals while someone else could choose to waste that time surfing the internet, watching television, drinking, or in any number of frivolous pursuits.

The question arises, then, if we know that time is valuable and how we use it determines the quality of our life, why do so many of us end up wasting our time? The question has to do with immediate versus delayed gratification.

Scrolling the internet, watching TV, and drinking all bring immediate gratification, the rewards of which are fleeting at best. We feel good in the moment of engaging in the behaviour, but that feeling soon passes and leaves us with little except possibly wanting more. This is why we can spend hours on social media or watching videos, seeking that quick dopamine fix.

Delayed gratification, on the other hand, requires forgoing the immediate, fleeting sensation of elation for effort and discomfort—but which will lead to benefits in the future. We may spend several hours working on a writing project, instead of spending that time drinking with friends, because we know that, over time, a consistent writing habit will eventually lead to the completion of an article, poem, or book.

The joy of being a published author takes unseen dedication and effort, which inherently means that we will not experience gratification right away. In order to use our time wisely, we must give up the desire for immediate gratification in order to take actions now that will benefit us greatly in the future.

This can happen only if our desire to achieve what we are striving for far exceeds any pleasure to be gained from an activity providing immediate benefit. This is why it is important to have goals that inspire and move us to action.

Take stock of your present situation and identify the one goal that, above all else, will move the needle on your quality of life. Make a list of all the reasons that you must achieve this goal, including how it will make you feel once achieved. Imagine that you are feeling what you would if the goal was within your grasp. Allow yourself to experience those feelings as intensely as possible.

Remember, your mind cannot distinguish between what is real and what is imagined in your subconscious mind. Once you can identify the sensations and feelings of achieving your goal, write down a list of all the benefits you will experience once you achieve this goal. Also, list how achieving your goal will benefit your community and humanity as a whole. Do this in as much detail as possible.

Next, write down the smallest next step you would need to take to start moving towards that goal. Ponder and plan this next step. The last thing is to make a conscious decision that, the next time you are free from the activities of daily living, any relationship commitments, physical fitness and health-enhancing practices, and work and career obligations, you will perform this next smallest step toward your goal instead of defaulting to answering texts, emails or searching social media.

You must convince yourself that your time is better spent taking this next smallest step toward your one major goal instead of wasting your time on other activities. Once you have made this commitment, you then need to take action on the next smallest step.

This is not to say that you can't spend time texting, emailing, or scrolling social media but that the time you spend in such activities will be drastically reduced in service to moving towards what truly matters to you, No reward is more fulfilling than the delayed gratification of personal goal achievement and true success.