Ever get to the end of the day wondering why you didn’t manage to accomplish all your tasks of the day? Our time is precious and we waste more than we realize on meaningless activities. You’re not lazy, just spending time doing the wrong things. Here are 10 things to stop wasting your time on today!
1. Mindless Scrolling
Scrolling on our phone is one of the BIGGEST habits that consumes so much of our time. Social media apps are designed to be addictive as it’s in their best interest to have you glued to your screen so advertisers can profit from you! By spending all of this time on our devices we are missing out on hours of real-life activity that could be put towards our goals, family time or doing anything that makes us happy. Look back at your screen time over the last month and work out what you could have achieved instead. Replace mindless scrolling every 30 minutes with intentional breaks. Being in control of your screen time is one of the best, most productive things you can do.
2. Overthinking Past Mistakes
We can trick our minds into thinking we are being productive by overthinking about past mistakes. ‘Next time I will do it this way’ — we tell ourselves this is a good use of our time. The true cost of dwelling on past mistakes is it reaffirms that we have made mistakes and makes us relive that moment over and over but also stops us moving forward, robbing time from our present and future. When you find yourself overthinking, try shifting to present-focused journaling instead to put yourself in a better mental space.
3. Trying to Please Everyone
You will never please everyone, no matter what someone won’t be happy. The only person whose emotions you can control is yourself. If you’re a people pleaser, spending your time doing this can make you feel productive and helpful; however, you are taking time away from yourself and your loved ones. Focus on pleasing yourself and those who truly matter to you.
4. Waiting for Motivation
Motivation comes and goes and spending your time waiting for motivation to come back to you will hurt your goals and dreams. It can feel productive as you know what you want to do and you ‘will’ do it when you have the motivation. The trouble is that the motivation may not come to you. Achieving your goals is all about consistency and taking action every day when you don’t feel like doing it.
5. Complaining
Complaining brings down your mood and puts you in a negative headspace. Not only is that hindering your success in the future but also wasting your precious time. If you took all that time you spend complaining about someone or something and used it to work on yourself you would be much happier and achieve much more. Next time you feel yourself heading down a rabbit hole of complaints, try swapping it out for some gratitude practice instead to raise your mood.
6. Comparing Yourself Online
Social media shows us the ‘best’ of everyone. It’s easy to compare everything in our lives to people online. Sometimes we may think that what we are seeing will help us become like that person and magically transform our lives into theirs; however, more often than not we are just looking at photos of other people’s lives, knocking our self-confidence and wasting our time. Try unfollowing people who make you feel like this and follow inspiring creators instead. Bonus points if you can cut back your social media usage.
7. Multitasking Everything
Focusing on one thing at a time is one of the secrets to success. We may feel like we are getting more done by multitasking but in the long run you would be able to get the tasks done to a higher standard in a shorter time if you just focus on one thing at a time. Plus, your mind will thank you for not overloading it with multiple projects at once. Try time blocking your day to set your focus or use the Pomodoro method.
8. Worrying About Things You Can’t Control
Worrying can take up so much time, creating scenarios in your mind that will never happen in real life — but somehow we find it to be a ‘productive’ thing to keep us safe. Focusing on what you can control will help when you actually face the situation you are worried about. You can also try to ground yourself when you feel worry creeping in with breathwork or by using positive affirmations.
9. Saying Yes to Things Out of Guilt
People pleasers find it unbelievably hard to say no to things, even when we don’t want to do them. This wastes so much of our time being at places and events we don’t want to be at. Learning to say no will free up so much of your time and allow you more energy for the things you do want to do. Instead of automatically saying yes to everything, try saying no in a kind and respectful way to one thing each week.
10. Perfectionism
Waiting for life to be perfect before starting your dream life will hold you back. Not publishing your first product or website in a small business out of fear that it’s not perfect wastes so much of your time that could be used towards something actually important. Done is better than perfect. Being imperfect and able to move forward is how we learn in life and if you’re waiting for everything to be perfect first … you’ll be waiting a long time. Start now even if it’s not perfect.
Time wasted can’t be reclaimed. Use your time wisely and redirect how you want your life to be.