Why We Often Waste Time

Ever since a young age, we have allowed programs and systems to manage our lives.

We all know the feeling of wasting an afternoon on the computer, not really doing much besides endlessly browsing Facebook and randomly surfing the internet. We spend half of our time online on “social networks” that prove to be quite anti-social. So we mindlessly browse around, refreshing the page every 2 minutes, hoping to see something new scroll across our newsfeed.

We are so accustomed to having our schedule managed for us that when we have free time, we don’t know what to do with it. So we occupy ourselves by doing the easiest thing possible, which often is some sort of mindless activity such as watching TV, randomly browsing Facebook, or doing nothing at all.

We find ourselves often bored, because we have nothing to occupy ourselves with. We don’t have enough personal projects or things to do to keep us occupied. It’s a trend that seems to happen every year, as students all across the nation begin their summer breaks. All of a sudden, they are no longer given homework, tests, or academic projects to manage their time.

I’ve realized that people who have found their passions find themselves in boredom far less frequently. The reason is that people who have found passion and purpose are always taking steps in regard to their purpose. If you often find yourself bored with nothing to do, it’s probably a good indicator that you’re used to other people managing your time and telling you what to do.

But at some point in life, something clicks and people make the shift to being intentional about what they want to do, setting clear goals and steps to achieve their goals. Unfortunately, we’re not taught how to manage our time growing up, and so it becomes a cycle of trial and error in order to be productive and creative with our time.

When and how did you learn to manage your time? and what difference did it make?

Tags | education, summer, time