A Weird Request: please start wasting time this week!
This is ridiculous, but one of my favorite ways to waste time is to PLAN.
I love sticking my nose in my phone’s calendar to plan future outings, dates, experiences.
Often I don’t actually HAVE the dates, experiences, or outings I desire because I waste so much time just thinking about them.
I actually created a word around this habit of mine: calendaring.
When I’m on my phone, ignoring my husband and my kid, I tell them, “I’m recharging! I’m calendaring! This is fun!”
They roll their eyes. Let’s be honest: I’m just wasting time.
Wasting time is what we do to avoid something.
Some people do it with shopping, or gambling, or eating, or drinking, or movies, or video games, or…fill in the blank!
To avoid something unpleasant, I use calendaring. I plan.
Talk about vanilla. Even my way of wasting time is B.O.R.I.N.G.!
Which proves my point that there is no shortage of ways that we can buffer & waste time!
When people waste time, they’ll tell themselves things like
- I deserve this.
- I need it.
- I’m exhausted – this will recharge me.
- Eff everyone else – this is for ME.
Then they dive off the pier into the deep waters of buffering – numbing out – for hours.
Nothing gets done. They lose trust in themselves that they can accomplish everything on their list.
The downward spiral begins there.
I want you to know: You DO deserve to recharge, my friend! I don’t want to take that away from you.
We require some time alone.
Chilling out is necessary to fill ourselves back up after a long day of this very depleting thing we call Life.
It makes us a better person, mom, friend, wife, partner, employee, boss, etc. etc. etc.
- But do you need a $250 splurge at Target to fully recharge?
- Do you need ¾ of the box of wine to feel alive?
- Is 2 hours on social media really filling you up?
Probably not.
So, let’s talk about what you DO need and how to get it.
If this buffering is creating shame, self-disgust, irritation, and disconnection, it’s probably something you’ve judged yourself about – a lot.
But you don’t want to give it up because it’s your only DAMN TIME ALONE.
Which you need. We’ve already established that.
Here’s what’s happening: you’re strung out for time, right? You don’t have enough time in your day as it is.
You’re over-scheduled & under-rested.
So you steal time – maybe you sneak it from your kids. Your partner. Your husband. Your job. Your workouts. Your self-care.
But you’re stealing your own time. Your own LIFE!
And I say Fuck. That.
Stop stealing your time & start planning the ‘wasting time’ into your day.
But we’re gonna call it something else: Recharge time. My time. Breathing space. Whatever.
Stop feeling guilty about it – and instead, SCHEDULE your “buffering” time.
Here’s the catch:
- Decide how much time you really need to recharge. (Probs not the 2 hours on Instagram that you give it.)
- Decide which activities actually recharge you (Does the bottle of wine actually fill you up?)
Want more time back in your life? It’s counter intuitive, but carve IN time for you. Give yourself the 20 minutes or 40 minutes or 60 minutes a day you really need.
And watch hours come BACK into your life.
Watch guilt leave your life.
Watch yourself be more engaged in the day.
Small shifts create big changes. Commit & watch it happen.
Does this resonate with you? Reach out. Tell me your thoughts about this – I am all over learning more about how we can get more time back into our lives!
