Waste time better

Everyone wastes time, so make sure your wasted time is fun

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio.

Speaker 2 (00:09):
Good Morning. This is Laura.

Speaker 1 (00:12):
Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's tip is to
waste time better. We all have low energy time that
is hard to use well. If some wasted time is inevitable,
it might be wise to figure out how to waste
this time in ways that are at least mostly satisfying.

(00:36):
Longtime listeners have probably heard me talking about getting a
new iPhone a few months ago. None of my apps transferred,
and so I needed to make an active decision about
whether to put social media apps back on my phone.
I elected not to. I eventually wound up returning to
that site formerly known as Twitter x now because there's

(00:59):
just been so much moretter making news lately. I am
still off the other apps, though I wish I could
say that.

Speaker 2 (01:06):
I have been incredibly productive with all the time I
have found, but unfortunately that is not the case. If anything,
my screen time tallies have gone up. I'm not looking
at photos on Instagram, but I'm looking at my own
old photos. I'm not looking at people's screeds on Facebook,
but I am reading the comments on posts at The

(01:27):
New York Times and on some well trafficked blogs. It
seems I have a pretty strong desire to scroll around,
and apparently I am agnostic about where I am doing
that scrolling. I am pretty sure most of us have
some inclination to waste time. I have seen thousands of
time logs over the years, and I have never seen

(01:49):
one where every single minute was devoted to something meaningful
or even enjoyable for the person or the people they
care about. Oh well, but given that this is the case,
the question is not necessarily how to stop wasting time,
It is how to waste time better. Of course, there

(02:11):
are a few things we can do to make sure
that there is only so much time to waste. Being
engaged in your job makes working hours feel better, so
might be worth doing an audit on that. Spending hours
with friends and family enjoying each other's company is definitely
not wasted time. Hobbies make down time feel a lot

(02:33):
more satisfying. But even though I love singing and running
and playing the piano, I am not going to spend
all my down time on these things. I'm just not,
so how can I spend low energy time better? This
is one reason I try to borrow a lot of
coffee table books from the library. Looking at someone's lovely

(02:55):
living room with a view of the ocean is a
lot like looking at Instagram. But I can't get sucked
into some other influencer's really horrible take on modern medicine
by accident. I subscribe to a lot of magazines to
at least try to limit the time spin online. I
will reread books I have read before, because well, if

(03:15):
I know what's going to happen, it's a little easier
on the brain. I go for meandering walks while listening
to music if that is an option. Even online time
probably can be improved. I'm a fan of closed communities
spots on the Internet where people have to pay to join,
or at least have to be approved to join. Having

(03:38):
to use real names is a huge plus. It means
people feel like they have a relationship with everyone else,
and there are real downsides to behaving badly. People will
know who you are. That is not the case with
a lot of places. If you approach time knowing you
will waste time, you can figure out ways to make

(04:00):
this downtime better. Indeed, I would recommend making a list
if you can choose how to spend your time, how
do you like to spend your time? What about time
that's sort of discretionary but not entirely, like downtime at
work or while watching children, or even while standing in line.
What can you do during those times? Make a list

(04:24):
of things that feel most meaningful or enjoyable that might
still be possible during these windows. Then train yourself to
do those things. First, If you are getting bored at
work but you aren't chained to your chair, go for
a walk. If you're puttering around the house waiting for
a kid to come home, listen to some music. If

(04:46):
you're planning to scroll while waiting in a TSA line
at the airport, log into that private group instead of
regular social media and read the threads there. Not all
time can be spent perfectly by any means, but given
that everyone wastes time, figuring out how to waste time
in ways that feel more enjoyable can be a big win.

(05:10):
It's worth putting some thought into it. In the meantime,
This is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making
the most of our time. Thanks for listening to before breakfast.

(05:30):
If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback, you can reach
me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast
is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts from iHeartMedia,
please visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you

(05:52):
listen to your favorite shows.