“A man who dares waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life.”

                                                         –Charles Darwin

Are you spending your time doing productive things?

This is a very important question every individual must ask oneself. The way you spend your time defines who you are. People today tend to put money above all other things in the world we live in. The most valuable and irreplaceable resource in our lives, ultimately, is time. There is no way to compensate for the time after you lose even one minute.

Poor time management can result in the form of unhappiness, loss of sleep, task failure, stress, and other unpleasant outcomes.

Here are 11 ways that show you are wasting your valuable time.

1. Procrastinating:

Are you delaying your task?

The practice of delaying or postponing things until the very last minute or after their due date is known as procrastination. 

Procrastination, according to some experts, is 

“A sort of self-regulation failure characterized by the deliberate postponing of tasks despite possibly harmful consequences.”

One of the biggest risks to our productivity, work-life balance, career advancement, and even our health and happiness is delaying tasks to “someday.” And since 95% of Americans admit to procrastinating frequently, we need to understand how to deal with it right away.

15 signs to know you are procrastinating:

• Not being aware of what must be done
• Not having the necessary skills
• Avoiding undertaking something
• Not caring whether it is completed or not
• A tendency to put things off until the last minute
• Believing that pressure makes you more productive
• Believing that you can complete it at the last minute
• Not having the motivation to start
• Blaming illness or poor health
• Waiting for the appropriate time
• Taking time to consider the assignment
• Putting off one duty to work on another

2. Indecisiveness:

“There is no more miserable human being than one in whom nothing is habitual but indecision.”

                                                             ~ William James.

Does it ever feel like you’re the only one who struggles with decision-making? It’s easy to just avoid making decisions altogether when you’re unsure about them in life. Maybe a recent tragic occurrence made you unsure of yourself, or maybe you’ve always been afraid of making the incorrect decision. Whatever the cause of your indecisiveness, you undoubtedly feel helpless and dissatisfied. However, what can you do to improve the situation and how can you stop hesitating?

5 ways to stop being indecisive

• Tune into your emotions
• Learn to trust yourself
• Visualize possible outcomes
• Take your time
• Take action

3. Gossiping:

                        Strong minds discuss ideas

                      Average minds discuss events

                        Weak minds discuss people

                                                    -Socrates-

Humans tend to be very social beings, and as we all know, gossiping is an essential component of socializing. It can serve as an opener between strangers, a connecting factor between rivals, or a means of reunion for best friends who have recently fought.

But have you ever noticed how much of your valuable time you waste talking to individuals you probably don’t even know? Too much, we believe.

Do you not believe that if you had the extra two hours, you would be going to bed earlier, finishing your homework, and doing your laundry?

But what’s the point when the chit-chat is so tempting and you want the latest information? But if you trust me, let me tell you, it’s keeping you from achieving your objectives.

4. Complaining:

Matt Rogers, writer for the blazing center has written the article “Complaining Isn’t Authentic, It’s a Waste of Time”

Rogers shares some really good points with us in this article. He says

“Since sin invaded the world, we’ve all had issues doing everything without complaining or grumbling. But lately, it seems that we’ve begun to celebrate complaining as a virtue rather than a vice.”

Sometimes, grumbling or complaining comes so naturally to us that we aren’t even aware of it. People try to be honest, especially with their close friends and family and those with whom they spend most of their time. Our honesty can occasionally take the shape of complaints when we’re feeling very comfortable. So, what we need is someone to gently correct us and lead us in prayer.

According to Rogers, three practices can guide us to leave the habit of complaining.

• Give praise top priority to start your day.
• Accept that life will occasionally be frustrating.
• Think twice about who you complain to and who you spend time with.

5. Endless web browsing:

You frequently waste time using the internet. Google is a skilled scam artist. It deceives you into believing that you are working when you are not.

Web search is time-wasting: How?

The issue with web searches is that they are frequently inaccurate. But the majority of users accept the first result that Google offers. If you type “how many planets are there in our solar system” into a search engine, for instance, the top result will state that there are eight planets. That is true but not quite. Some details are not explained, just like with many other facts. Our solar system now has eight planets and five “dwarf planets,” including Pluto (which was a planet when I was a child). This is because astronomers have redefined what a planet is. The first information we find on Google omits the nuance, like many other “facts.”

6. Not capturing ideas:

Never letting an idea slip their hands is a common trait of highly creative individuals. Today, I advise you to do the same because they purposefully capture their ideas.

Let’s discuss the benefits of beginning to capture your ideas.

There are two good reasons:

• The first one is clear. You may prevent forgetting your thoughts by deliberately gathering them. Our memory can occasionally serve us poorly.
• You will quickly get what I like to call creative thinking confidence by writing down your ideas.

7. Hanging out with negative people:

Run far away if you are hanging out with negative people

“You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.”, said Jim Rohn

You need to be selective about who you bring into your life. Ensure that you are surrounded by positive individuals. You may not realize how significant this is. I am telling you five reasons why you should avoid negative people as soon as you can. Read attentively because this has the potential to change your life.

5 reasons why you should stay away from negative people:

• They take up your valuable time.
• They can make you dumb.
• They can make you a depressed person.
• They only see the negative in everything.
• These people are never happy.

8. Playing too many video games:

Does playing video games waste time? When you are worried about your time and life values, this question pops up. There are good and bad aspects to gaming.

It’s undoubtedly a waste of time with additional drawbacks if you’re sucked and easily become addicted to video games.

“Video games are waste of time for men with nothing else to do. Real brains don’t do that. On occasion? Sure. As relaxation? Great. But not full-time. And a lot of people are doing that. And while they are doing that, I will go ahead and write another novel.”

                                                                  -Ray Bradbury

Why are video games time-wasting?

• You become addicted
• Your social skills become poor
• Gaming Too Much Is Bad For Your Health
• Competitive gaming becomes highly stressful

9. Taking part in unproductive meetings:

In the US, there are almost 25 million meetings conducted every day, and the cost of $37 billion and other valuable resources are wasted annually on unproductive meetings. According to research conducted by Industry Week of more than 2000 managers, meetings take up at least 30% of managers’ time. A similar study with CEOs, conducted by 3M discovered that between 25 and 50 percent of the time spent in meetings was wasted.

Why are meetings frequently so unproductive?

• No value is delivered
• Employee disengagement
• Goals are unclear
• Start late and run over time
• Wrong people attending the meeting

10. Excessive use of social media:

Especially during the lockdown, social media has been the primary means of information sharing. Considering that, in comparison to social media, the reach of search engines is extremely limited.

However, the brain becomes so addicted to being online that it wants to be online. People get depressed due to a lack of time to do other important stuff, which also contributes to the rise in depression and suicide.

These social media platforms have been deliberately created to be appealing. They have spent a hefty sum of money on human psychology studies and are using casino strategies to keep you coming back for your next fast hit. They keep track of your online activities, get you into purchasing things you don’t need, and satisfy your desire for immediate approval from strangers.

11. Attending the phone calls:

Phone calls eat away your time, disturb your job, and overall make you feel existentially burdened. 

Set aside specified periods for calls

You should avoid most calls for two reasons in particular. Productivity is the most obvious one because it takes 23 minutes to recover from a distraction at work, and few things are more disruptive than an unexpected call that diverts your attention from what you were trying to get done. A call’s default minimum duration is often 30 minutes, yet even the longest emails take 5 to 10 minutes to write. When you schedule a call, you frequently prolong and slow down a procedure that can be finished one-third of the time. 

For example, organizing a meeting agenda might need a few emails back and forth, but each email will likely take less than 5 minutes to write—whereas your colleagues might very well fill up a whole half-hour call chattering about the same logistical problems.

The second reason is that it might be challenging to make sound decisions at the time of the call. Are you agree to give that speech? How much should you charge? Do you want to grab coffee together? The tension of being on the phone with someone could make it difficult for you to take the time you need to think and to organize your thoughts if you wish to decline.

Final thoughts:

Remember the value of time in whatever you do. Because time is finite, once it’s gone, it’s gone forever. Remember that you cannot go back in time. Therefore, make sure to utilize your time as effectively as you can. Do not postpone tasks till the following day or hour. Now is the only time you have.