What Good is Saved Time If You Are Wasting It?

I have recently found myself going down a rabbit hole all around being more productive. Speeding up my workflow. Getting more done in less time. All of these things are great, but I realized as I was watching yet another YouTube video about this, wouldn’t I be more productive if I was working instead of watching a video on being more productive?

As I thought more about this issue, it hit me. I don’t need to get faster, or more efficient, as much as I need to stop wasting so much time. It made me think of how I am spending all of my time, not just time working. Am I making the most of my free time?  

The answer I came up with is, no. I find myself wasting a lot of time claiming to be working when really, I am procrastinating. I also waste a lot of my free time watching TV or swiping on my phone.

If you are hoping for productivity hacks from me, here are a couple of quick ones. Stop procrastinating and do the thing. Most time is wasted because of putting off the task instead of just doing something. Secondly, eliminate as many distractions as you can while you work. Those two things are the best, and really the only productivity hacks you need.

One area I do love to find ways to get more productive and speed up my workflow is in areas that I don’t enjoy working on. There are some aspects to every job that isn’t fun, and these are the places where I can see finding time-saving tips being helpful. Just be cautious that you don’t eliminate the parts of your work that you do enjoy doing.

Becoming more productive is great, but what am I doing with all that extra time? I already spend too much of my free time watching TV and scrolling through social media aimlessly. Do I really need more time doing these things? I would love to say that any extra time I get I will use to do something productive, but based on my life until now, that isn’t likely.

For me, I am in a fortunate position that I don’t need more free time. I need to get better at how I use my free time. Instead of spending it staring at a screen, I need to do things that bring me joy. Or start tackling my long list of skills that I want to try to learn, like a second language.

Sometimes staring blankly at a screen and watching TV is fine, but a little bit of that goes a long way. Plus, there are better ways to relax, things that will bring me more joy. I rarely ever think back to a day spent on social media and think “Today was a great day.”  

So, why do we need to save more time, and get more productive, if we aren’t using the time we have very well? What I need is to find more enjoyable ways to spend my time, not how to be more productive.

I don’t lack time, but I do need to stop wasting it.