10 Things You Need to Stop Wasting Time On

Your time, my friend, is one of your most valuable personal assets, do you keep track of where it goes?

Some of these things that you need to stop wasting time on just… happen. We do those things mindlessly, not giving them a lot of thought.

What would it feel like to have more freedom, more time to do things you truly enjoy?

10 THINGS YOU NEED TO STOP WASTING TIME ON

REGRET

Regret will not change anything. It won’t make your current circumstance or situation any better or different, regret will not change your past.

It’s simple as that.

For the most part, regret keeps you stuck and if you spend too much of your time living in regret, you will find it impossible to move forward. It’s this moment, right here, that you have to make worth living. Do you want to spend your energy thinking of what could have been, or would it be better if you took that energy to work and create something that can be?

BEATING YOURSELF UP

Stop wasting time by bashing your body, by telling yourself you’re not good enough, stop telling yourself you’re stupid for going one direction instead of the other. Don’t allow yourself to become your worst enemy, try being more kind to yourself. Instead of beating yourself up over your mistakes, use each of them as teaching tools (something we just talked about in this post).

DRAMA

As much as you sometimes try to avoid it… drama might somehow find its way in. Getting involved in someone else’s pointless drama is a huge waste of time. We sometimes just loooove wasting our energy gossiping, telling stories, sometimes the whole “drama” thing happens at work and NOT being a part of it, isn’t always easy when you have 3 different people trying to tell you their part of the story.

Well, just because it’s difficult, doesn’t mean it’s impossible. Things like these don’t bother you until you actually realize how stupid and pointless they are, AND just how much energy they take away from you.

HOLDING GRUDGES

Don’t waste your time on resentment- learn to let go and forgive. Whether it’s you forgiving yourself, or forgiving others, letting go is sometimes one of the hardest things we need to learn. Once you do let go, you will see the emotional freedom and clarity that come with it. You will see that holding to a grudge, is holding yourself back.

POINTLESS BUSYNESS

Sometimes we get so busy, we feel overwhelmed and try to do way too much all at once, while ending up getting… nothing done.

That, is pointless busyness.

It’s like being “busy” for no reason. There is a major difference between being “productive” and being “busy.” Just because you find yourself being busy, it doesn’t mean that you’re getting a ton of things done. Focus on single-tasking, try time-blocking and swap being busy for being productive.

PUSHING AWAY YOUR FEELINGS

Do not be afraid to let yourself feel. Negative feelings have their purpose, too. The more you try to resent those feelings, the harder they can hit you. Their purpose is to help you survive, so if you feel upset, or frustrated, let yourself feel those emotions. Don’t waste your time on pushing them away because sooner or later, they will find their way out. Recognize those negative feelings and emotions for what they are; let yourself feel them and let them go without judgment.

TOXIC RELATIONSHIPS

Not all of those are easy to let go of, but ending toxic relationships can transform your life. Gossip, complaining, nagging, these things bring exactly ZERO value to your life. Every once in a while, take some time to re-evaluate your relationships.

CONSTANT COMPARISON

Looking at others, thinking: “I wish I was doing that, too.” Don’t we all sometimes have those “the grass is greener on the other side” feelings?  Constant comparison, especially the 21st century kind of comparison when most people put their lives online for everyone else to see, is flat-out unfair. On the one hand we judge, sometimes thinking that perhaps, in some way, we’re “better” than others, and on the other hand, we feel jealous when looking at someone else’s success or life.

Neither of those is a positive feeling. Jealousy and judgment do not serve you. Quit being unfair to both yourself and other people and learn to appreciate where you are; see all the good, the magic that your own life has. Don’t waste your time on worrying about what everyone else is doing.

WAITING

“Things will be better when…”

“I will be happy when…”

…well you fill in that blank.

As someone who spent a great deal of time waiting for that perfect moment, on numerous occasions, I can tell you this: perfect moments never come. You can spend the rest of your life waiting. If there is something you want to do or accomplish, start now. No matter how small that first step might be, take it. Today, or even now. Do not spend the rest of your life waiting.

SAYING “YES” WHEN YOU REALLY WANT TO SAY… “NO”

Setting up healthy boundaries is key to your happiness. If you find saying “no” difficult, remember that by saying “no” to one thing, you can later end up saying “yes” to something better. Maybe you’re a bit of a people pleaser, maybe you’re afraid of hurting your relationship so you say “yes” to spending the night out with a friend when all you want to do is stay home and eat pizza. Your time and energy are among the most valuable resources, you shouldn’t invest them in things that aren’t important to YOU, or on things you don’t feel like doing. This is true when it comes to relationships as well as your work.

Here’s one of the most important lessons I’ve learned this year, which I’ve always known to be a huge waste of time, but was guilty of: allowing others to define things like happiness or success to me.  These two things mean different things to us all. You have to live your life on your own terms, without allowing anyone else to dictate what you should or shouldn’t be doing.

Some people, usually those who are close to us, have their own idea of what they think our lives should look like, or which path we should be taking. We have to learn to live our lives, unapologetically, not worrying about or wasting time on thinking if it meets with someone else’s approval.

Usually, it’s not until something painful or difficult happens to us, that we realize just how much time we waste.

We pick stupid little fights with our loved ones, we refuse to forgive, we don’t want to move on, we wait for things to simply “fall into place” rather than trying to make a change. It’s not until we experience loss, or go through a major change or a health problem when we think “Wow, I’ve wasted so much time on stupid things that don’t really matter.” Stop wasting time and start living your life on your own terms.