My top time wasters

Do you ever feel that there is not enough hours in the day to get done what you need to do? Does your to do list or inbox grow bigger and bigger? Do you feel busier than ever before? Surveys show that we are more pressed for time than ever before. However, this century we have seen more and more time management strategies, devices and products to help us maximise the time that we have in order to become as efficient as possible. Despite all the frantic hustle, bustle and activity, we seem to end up feeling like we have not got enough done.

The Coronavirus lockdowns during a global pandemic certainly did away with normal routines and our sense of time seemed distorted. For those that were furloughed, time dragged out, for those that had to work and homeschool at the same time, there was not enough time.

The irony about time is that the more you try to control it, the further it slips away from your control. Here are my top activities that seem to eat up time and some suggestions about what you can do to make the most of your time:

1. Scrolling social media (dangerous as 2 minutes can easily turn into 2 hours)

2. Searching for keys. The average person spends a year looking for stuff they have misplaced!

3. Deciding what to wear each day

4. Flicking from channels to find a programme to watch

5. Ferrying kids to school and extra curricular activities or birthday parties

6. Loading and unloading the dishwasher

7. Waiting for the microwave to ping or the kettle to boil

8. Worrying about something that is going to happen tomorrow / next week / next month

9 Queuing - my worst place is in the Post Office, especially if the person in front has loads of parcels.

10. Waiting to drop back off to sleep at night

11. Writing to do lists

12. Pairing up socks from the laundry

So what can help us to make the most of the brief and limited time that we have left on this planet?

Focus on what you have already achieved, not just what you have to do. I keep a reverse bucket list on the notes on my phone and add to it something cool or remarkable that I have done just to remind myself of the life that I have already lived.

Switch off the notifications on your phone. Oh the allure of the message ping, vibration or notification in the top corner of the app. Social media is designed to keep you refreshing and checking, it’s like the slot machine of the modern day.

Practise doing nothing. Many people find it hard to be still or alone with their own thoughts, distracting themselves instead. If you can’t bear the thought of being still or quiet you are more likely to make poor choices with your time in order to keep busy. Just sit still for one minute and build up from there - notice any discomfort you may have.

Habit stacking Whilst you are doing one thing (such as waiting in your car at a red light) always do something else (like take 5 deep breaths), this way you can feel you have achieved something in otherwise what would be classed as “dead time.”

Go old school when you can. Digital distractions are seductive and alluring and we never have the chance to get bored before the next pop up, advert or post grabs our attention. In order to reduce your attention flitting from one thing to another - choose devises that do just one thing e.g. an old fashioned alarm clock, a kindle e reader, a journal or notepad.

Be more in the moment. We can experience life looking ahead - to the next diary commitment or meeting we have to attend, next pay cheque, next holiday, next day off. An alternative way of living life is to pay more attention to the every day stuff, plunging you more deeply into the life you are living in the here and now.

Nicola Strudley