Stop wasting time. There. I said it. But this post isn’t just directed at you. I’m preaching to myself too. When I was sick last month, I had some major down time to think and reflect about life. The topic that kept coming up in my mind was wasting time on things that aren’t good for your mindset, health, relationships and life.
Today, I want to talk about what we tend to focus on when we need to focus on other things that impact our lives and well-being.
Here are 10 things you need to stop wasting time on (in no particular order):
- Delaying your health – Of course it’s hard to get healthy. It gets even harder the more time passes by. It’s even harder when the issue you’re facing could’ve been prevented. Life is way too short to be spending time and money nursing yourself BACK to health. There are places to go and people to see!
- Caring about what other people think – Your goals, your life and what you want to accomplish are put on hold based on someone else’s opinions? The crazier thought? You’re not going to go after the life you want when in reality, it’s you that lives your life? Okay, say it out loud with me, “I’m not living my best life because I care about what others think about what I’m doing.” Now, explain to me how that makes sense. I didn’t think so. My best friend’s dad once told me, “The older you get, the less you care about what others think of you.” What’s the point in caring about what strangers think? Now that I’m in my 30s, I wholeheartedly believe that 100%.
- Comparing yourself to others – What a waste of time! Why are we spending time looking at other people’s lives and feeling jealous or sorry for ourselves when we should stay in our own lane and focus on what we want to experience and evolve into who we want to become? There are two times you should compare yourself. First, to be inspired by the life someone else is leading. Lastly, be a better person today than you were yesterday. Yep, you should be comparing yourself to the version of who you were yesterday.
- Unhealthy relationships (and I’m not talking about romantic relationships either) – I’m sure we’ve all been there and got the t-shirt for this one. Being in unhealthy relationships with toxic people drains your energy and life. Sometimes, it’s best to let go of a friendship instead of trying to keep it alive.
- Snarking on someone else’s life/story – Yes, let’s go ahead and snark on someone else’s life/story so you can feel better about what you are NOT doing in your own life. Stop wasting time and focus on yourself. Hey, just speaking truth here.
- Jumping to conclusions – Yeah, before you respond, make sure you know the full story before looking like an idiot. I can’t tell you how many times I jumped to conclusions before I learned the entire story. I felt so incredibly low.
- Generalizing a group of people – Come on. Are you that ignorant? No, not all people in a group speak or act like a few idiots. Just because you have one bad apple in the bunch doesn’t mean the rest are.
- Looking for the negative in every little thing – If you’re one of those people who can’t simply enjoy a video of an animal being saved and must be the Negative Nancy on how said animal is rescued, you’re wasting your time. Ask yourself why you always look for the negative in a positive moment.
- Being a sore loser – Seriously. Yeah, you may have been the best, but you were beat. It’s okay to fail. Remember, someone will always be worse than you when it comes to your gifts/talents and someone will always be better than you.
- Focusing on what you don’t have – Yep. Take a step back and see what you do have. Gratitude is the best attitude you need to have in order to live your best life!
I know I’ve been guilty on #1, #2, #3, #4, #6 and #10 the most during my adult years. The things I just talked about above are what we need to stop focusing on as they are the very things that deteriorate our mindset, health and relationships. And ultimately, our lives.
How do we combat counterproductive habits? It all comes down to awareness. Once we realize what we are doing, we need to reflect on why we’re doing it. Next, we need to figure out what we want for ourselves and then can we begin to make changes.
What do you need to stop doing in order to stop wasting time?
I wrote this post because we need to focus on what we are doing with the time that’s been given to us. I’ve noticed a lot of people doing the above and it was time to start a conversation on this subject.
Let me know your thoughts!
Looking for something in particular?
