Strategies to stop wasting time

[scottindenver]

Just thought I would start a thread where people can share different ways they have found to stop wasting time. For myself i have found its very easy to check email too often, watch a 15 min Youtube video that was forgettable, worry about something that i cant control, etc etc.

One strategy i am trying is building roadblocks by making it hard to check email. If its hard enough i just wont do it and same with social media. fortunately i never got on facebook or instagram but youtube can definitely be a time waster for me.

So what has worked for you?

[DutchGirl]

One thing that has worked for me, is to set an alarm. When at home, I set the alarm on my oven, and when it goes I have to get up (because it's annoying), and then I go do the thing I need to go do. In other locations I sometimes do set my phone alarm.

One other thing is that I had to realize that I do need downtime. My energy level will run low if I do too much, so sometimes I need to rest. (This is also why the alarm helps: first let's rest for 15 or 20 minutes, and then I can and will do this thing...). So please, consider whether you also really need some time to do nothing and to recharge.

[Frita]

A couple daily practices:
1) If I can do a task in 5 minutes, I just do it. Sometimes I extend the time frame. I notice my favorite things to procrastinate on take very little time (i.e., doing dishes, taking out the garbage/recycle, not flossing). Often, once I start doing whatever, I get in the flow and don’t want to stop. I frequently don’t bother setting an alarm as I discover I was tempted to procrastinate for something taking a minute or two.
2) I practice doing something I don’t want to do or would prefer not to do daily. It is random what that is (i.e., making a phone call, weeding, having a tricky conversation, etc.). Some days I go out of my way to do more than one thing.

[icefish]

Setting barriers and restrictions never worked for me. If I'm in a state to procrastinate, I will find a way to procrastinate even if the internet has been blocked and my phone has been thrown in a well. (Get into bird-watching -- it makes mindlessly staring out a window feel productive!)

What helped me cut down on that kind of thing wasn't trying to punitively force myself to stop wasting time, but to look at why I was doing it and ID what was going on there. The other end of the equation. Usually I was dicking around because the assigned task ahead was painful in some kind of way: I didn't feel certain about its outcome, I didn't know where to start, I felt incompetent in that sphere, it involved contact with someone who was going to be a kaiju-class pain in the ass...

A writing coach I like has the concept of 'essential pain'. Certain tasks are just going to involve some inherent level of pain, and procrastinating can be your way of trying to prevent feeling it. So now I kind of bake that in and work with it. Like, "starting a new chapter sucks! So let's wrestle with it for ten minutes to break that blank-page barrier, while freely complaining, kvetching, and moaning," instead of my previous, "oh I'll totally get that started today, it's no big deal, it shouldn't take too long, so I'm just gonna check some sites first..."

[scottindenver]

“A writing coach I like has the concept of 'essential pain'.”

Thats perfect. A lot of things involve some essential pain and being uncomfortable.

[thai_tong]

In terms of mindless browsing, I remind myself "Engagement not entertainment".

Browsing is a form of entertainment when what I really want is engagement. If I am mindlessly clicking through news articles looking for *something* intetesting, I pause and think what would really engage me, like translating something into the language I am learning.

[jacob]

My perspective: https://earlyretirementextreme.com/prod ... -eggs.html

[Viktor K]

Lot of people want to do more, better use their time. But doing so can be hard, and often expectations are too high or not grounded in reality. This worked for me: Track time for each tasks for a period of 1-2 weeks.

Track well-being over same time period.

I found 4-6 hours of productivity, across a variety of tasks, was all I could reasonably maintain.

Prioritize time from there.

For me, life isn’t about being productive and sometimes a good bed rot is all I need from a day.

[Dave]

Lot of people want to do more, better use their time. But doing so can be hard, and often expectations are too high or not grounded in reality.

+1

I'd add that when I find myself constantly seeking distractions over a prolonged period of time, my heart isn't really into my main goal.

Sitting amd reflecting on what I want and why I want it helps me hone in on good goals that I don't have to excessively brute force action on, rather I WANT to act on them.

[scottindenver]

Another thing that has worked lately for me is to do the minimum on unimportant tasks and not give a shit. I focus my energy and brain in the most important thing to me that day and all other chores are done quickly with minimum of effort. Cleaning dishes, laundry, etc are done fast and i dont care as its not really important in the long run and if the house looks messy, too bad. Modern mass media has made the expectation of a clean beautiful home absolutely ridiculous, its wasted time and energy.

[PhoneticNachos]

The book 'Atomic Habits' is probably the gold standard for getting better at avoiding procrastination.

Focus on no more than three tasks outside your daily chores, and required work/life/family responsibilities.
Preferably one thing at a time until you get it done.

Most people severely underestimate how much they can do when fully committed to a given task. And conversely, they over-estimate how long any given task will take to accomplish.

[scottindenver]

One thing i have found helpful lately is this youtube channel called Productivity Game. The videos are short summaries of books some of which are productivity related. I dont have time to read all these books but the videos this guy makes are quite good and give me 1 or 2 things to try out at work and at home. It has actually really helped me in a few instances already and helped me land a job recently despite being out of the job market for a long time.

https://m.youtube.com/@ProductivityGame

For those curious, one book summary video was on the book Organize Tomorrow Today. After watching the video i got the book from the library and started following the advice in the book. I wrote down my 3 most important items the day before (which is key apparently) and then stick to those 3 things first in the morning the next day. In a recent interview i explained this to the hiring committee and they seemed genuinely impressed I had a system for writing down the 3 most important items the day before. I give full credit to the authors, i just did what they said to do but it works for me!