How do I stop wasting time?

satanic_hamster · 2020-12-13T14:10:13+00:00

When you wake up in the morning after getting only 6 hours of sleep, and drag yourself into the bathroom in the cold of the morning and take a shower when you aren't even mentally all there, how do you do it? Is there some process of deliberation? Are you consciously drawing steps from point A to point B? No, you get up and do it because you need to get up and do it.

We do this in every aspect of our lives. We do shit we don't want to do because not doing them is often far worse, and we've all tried it. Try it again if you need to sometime. Let your dishes stack up until you have nothing to clean to eat on. Never wipe your ass or wash your clothes until you smell like a walking piece of shit to everybody. The alternative is worse than picking up on the necessity of being productive. The only difference here is that your time horizon is so short, you feel the effects of it much easier.

I don't like what I do for a living. I don't particularly like 'healthcare' at all. I don't even really care for people at all. But one thing I am is very impatient, and people foolishly for the wrong reasons, mistake that for efficiency and being productive (I am, but I'm also very high in conscientiousness in general). The way I see it is that anytime I waste on bullshit or not getting things done is time I'm not going to get back, so I might as well do it right the first time. I don't want to have to keep revisiting the same issue over and over and over and over and over again. So I'm going to learn every goddamn thing, read every letter of the law and become an unparalleled expert in my field in every way that I can be so, so I can have mastery over my life and not be subject to everyone and everything else.

Being halfway through your work always feels better than halfway through procrastinating. Going first during a large school project is always a greater relief than going last. That extra day of work and OT always looks better on your paycheck and opens doors for you later on. I don’t even like taking breaks or lunch. Occasionally I’d come in and do a 12 hour shift, clock in and work straight until I’m off. You just do it. That's all there is to it.

kmanju5683 · 2020-12-13T13:55:19+00:00

Don't take naps. Work all day. Sleep to relax at night. That sleep hits different

a6rp · 2020-12-13T15:07:24+00:00

Best idea is to start doing something without thinking that much, almost always the hardest part is to start.

Drive_Thru_Sushi · 2020-12-13T14:00:24+00:00

Make your primary area uncomfortable enough to stay awake, take a look at your diet, take a cold shower, remove distractions(ie: make a new YouTube account dedicated to learning) put your phone where you can’t grab it.

throw-away-1709 · 2020-12-13T13:57:47+00:00

Go zerocarb and/or ketogenic on animal protein. Cures being tired in a few month.

For other things - use motivation technics like binaural beats (anti procastrination) or sublime hypnosis.

For the goals use some motivational technic.

And

LIFT. HEAVY.

ZomCom13 · 2020-12-13T14:01:45+00:00

Just my 2 cents here, depending on what your interests are, and how you feel on a certain day and how much free time you have, I would go off of that to make use of your time. If you have to be indoors, watch educational videos pertaining to your hobbies, learn something new. Learn history, finance, a new skill, something interesting, etc.

If you can be outside, exercise, grab those airbuds and go for a jog.

If you feel like doing none of those, you can always kick back, watch a movie, TV shows, anime, read manga, comics, etc. There's literally a million things you can do with internet and a computer. Order stuff online and start a new hobby. Read some books. Napping isn't a waste of time imo if you can manage your business and things you have to do and the time spent sleeping doesn't detract from that.

I spend hours watching random shit on youtube/hulu/netflix and am entertained to infinity when I have the free time to use for that.

Follow this and you will most likely never run out of things to do, and you will not be "wasting time" unless that time used to do this should have been used to work.

Prioritize activity that will improve your health, knowledge, and well-being, and if you just don't feel like it anymore, just kick back and watch something fun.

Tousen71 · 2020-12-13T22:01:59+00:00

Here’s what I’m doing now that is currently working for me after YEARS of a start-stop mentality.

For reference, I would pick up a new habit like running, then after two weeks, miss a day. Then one day became two, then two became a week, and then I’m back on my bullshit talking about I need to get back to running...

What I did was very simple:

Build consistency not achievement.

Here’s what I mean...

Let’s take the running example. I would say something like, “I’m going to run Monday through Friday for 30 minutes.”

I’d get jazzed after the first few days and start increasing my goal metrics (“I’m going to run 35 minutes next week!”)

And again, what happened was eventually life interjected with a priority that was more pressing. Then, that 30 minute requirement felt heavier, harder, and easier to skip. When that happened, you know the rest.

So, what do you do instead?

You set the goal so fucking low that you’d feel like a lazy sack of shit for NOT doing it.

Instead of a 30 minute run Monday through Friday, maybe it’s a 10 minute run Monday through Thursday.

Or 5 minutes. Or just a jog around the block.

You commit to doing that for one week.

Then you reset and do another week.

Then another.

Before you know it you’ve strung together months or years of consistent running—the distance traveled is irrelevant. It’s the act of doing it that matters.

Once the habit is firmly set, THEN you expand on it. It’s a gradual process but remember, willpower IS exhaustible. And if you try to pull a “fuck that shit, and power through” mentality out of nowhere, you WILL burnout and wind up right where you started.

bazima · 2020-12-13T14:23:24+00:00

there's an app that limits your use of website/apps. its called stayfocusd really useful

Title	How do I stop wasting time?
Author	150420throwaway
Upvotes	5
Comments	12
Date	December 13, 2020 1:46 PM UTC (5 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/askTRP
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/asktrp/comments/kcauz8/how_do_i_stop_wasting_time/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/askTRP/how-do-i-stop-wasting-time.731479 https://theredarchive.com/post/731479

Comments