Stopping yourself from wasting time?

[DHR]

Start by asking for a long forum holiday. It may come as a suspension though.

There would be some list of suspensions required

I'd end up on Reddit... you wouldn't do that to a man @GaryTheSnail would you

 

[Removed User 345456]

Since binning social media what 10 years ago maybe more hmm how time flies, I've never not had free time where I want it

 

[marinersfan]

I only do 3 shifts a week. 12 hour ones though, I'm not a total lay about.
This means time flies.
The 3 years since my Mum died has literally disappeared in the blink of an eye.

A day can come and go in a few YouTube videos, a bit of gaming and some dog walks.

 

[Deleted member 77746]

Shirley, you're not saying that posting here is a waste of time?!

Don't call me Shirley.

There would be some list of suspensions required

I'd end up on Reddit... you wouldn't do that to a man @GaryTheSnail would you

A big list. Nope I wouldn't do that man.

Since binning social media what 10 years ago maybe more hmm how time flies, I've never not had free time where I want it

Well, we can't blame social media. If everyone went out to play would be a different kind of waste of time, except probably not a waste lol

 

[Ayahuasca]

I'm not sure that's true. My kids want to play on their iPads all day but it's just meaningless time sat with an empty brain. If you force them to get moving and make memories they are happier. They would have wasted time doing what they wanted.

Yep, it’s pretty much the devil makes work for idle hands.

I can feel happy or at least content playing a game for 8 hours a day. The feelings that come after that though is the problem and what it’s doing to your brain subconsciously.

 

[Nitefly]

Yep, it’s pretty much the devil makes work for idle hands.

I can feel happy or at least content playing a game for 8 hours a day. The feelings that come after that though is the problem and what it’s doing to your brain subconsciously.

Yup. ‘Levelling up’ and progress in a video game is a doddle to making meaningful progress in real life. Such reliance on ‘brain snacks’ can leave you lazy and underwhelmed. I can relate to that all too well!

As was said earlier in the thread, you can’t really force spending your time meaningfully beyond a mental ‘kick start’ (“it’s time to do something”) to step towards spending your time better. The other aspect is acknowledging that real life rewards are relatively slow burn - just like reading a book. Slowly slowly. Not brain candy.

^knowing that makes your more disciplined.

As the great man Samuel Johnson once said:

“All the performances of human art, at which we look with praise or wonder, are instances of the resistless force of perseverance; it is by this that the quarry becomes a pyramid, and that distant countries are united with canals. If a man was to compare the single stroke of the pickaxe, or of one impression of the spade, with the general design and the last result, he would be overwhelmed by the sense of their disproportion; yet those petty operations, incessantly continued, in time surmount the greatest difficulties, and mountains are leveled and oceans bounded by the slender force of human beings."

"...those who have any intention of deviating from the beaten roads of life, and acquiring a reputation superior to names hourly swept away by time among the refuse of fame, should add to their reason and their spirit the power of persisting in their purposes; acquire the art of sapping what they cannot batter; and the habit of vanquishing obstinate resistance by obstinate attacks."

… I love those quotes

 

[413x]

This is a big topic for me.. Blurb incoming.


I've spent a lot of time effort and thought last couple of years on thinking about time and wasting it. Especially having a health scare. That really sorts you out!
I'm 37, in a relationship, mortgage, no kids, WFH.
Mental health issues make it when more important. Depression can creep in if I don't go outdoors.

I try to do at least 3 things a week out of the house.
This is usually games/DnD in person during the week.
Going somewhere on bike, kayak, hike, beach at weekend (hard when weather is miserable).
And something else mid week, be it games/dnd or a walk away from home, evening cycle.

I find that enough to make me think im not wasting time. I do get down if a week goes by with no activities. But if I do too much I can get exhausted.

A big one for me here was getting a cleaner. I'm usually against such things "I can do it myself.. So why pay". But it's the best thing I've done in a while. Rather than spending Saturday morning cleaning the house and writing off a quarter of my weekend.
It takes the cleaner 1.5 hours what would take me a morning. It's totally worth it for us. Also.. It takes off the mental burden 'ugh I need to clean'

Also. Holidays. Now finally got house sorted. And have a house, I don't have to save.
Its scary when you think you're very ill and look at think.. I've done so little. For me that's travel. And I'm making the change. 2-3 holidays abroad a year. I don't need to save endlessly only to die with a big bank balance.


Its so easy to waste time.. Its so easy to end up looking back at your life and thinking "where did those decades go?"... I don't want to end up regretting it.

 

[413x]

Yep, it’s pretty much the devil makes work for idle hands.

I can feel happy or at least content playing a game for 8 hours a day. The feelings that come after that though is the problem and what it’s doing to your brain subconsciously.

Pretty much given up gaming. I had the buzz before.. But no real enjoyment after.. Even regret. And even playing, started to lose enjoyment. Especially so if I spent a weekend playing. That was the biggest regret

 

[Smeghead]

I live alone with no dependencies of any kind, but I do struggle with time management. I've gained a bit of weight since getting my house, so I'm trying to start exercising again. It does make me think how on earth other people do it while raising kids and getting in a 2 hour workout every day and reading a book a week and all the rest of it.

My biggest time sink I'm trying to improve on is cooking. By the time I start prepping dinner around 6pm, cooking and sitting down to eating, it's easily 1-2 hours. Watch a couple episodes of a show/Youtube/Twitch, then washing up, I'm looking at around 8pm 8:30pm before I'm done and dusted with everything, which by this point most gyms are closed or nearly closing. I've started batch cooking, which definitely helps.

I wish I could wake up early and get the workout over and done with early, but I'm just not a morning person. It takes me several alarms just to drag myself out of bed.