As I write this – I am guilty! I also, have just today, said ‘yes’, when I really would have preferred to say ‘no’. But, I, along with you, CAN improve on decluttering our time wasters. Shall we?
First…
Let’s clarify what a time waster is. When I say time waster, I am not talking about your relative you don’t like. I am talking about actions and activities that we don’t benefit from doing. That of course will be different for each person. For example, one person might really benefit from an afternoon of surfing, another person might be apathetic about it, and for them it might be a time waster.
So, the first step in this process is – identify your own time wasters!
Let’s go through some possibilities.
PHONES = scrolling too long on social media, playing games, oversharing information with strangers, watching youtube videos, editing photos. WORK = unnecessary meetings, trying to reach perfection, over-researching, chatting with colleagues. HOME = letting clutter build, watching TV, chatting with neighbours, being untidy. PERSONAL = trying to control other people, staying in bed, worrying, beating ourselves us, staying resentful.
Did any of those hit a cord?
You might be able to find many others when you start looking through your own activities. So, what can we do to declutter these things?
The next step is – plan ahead – as much as possible!
Let me give you an example for this. I don’t love dusting knick knacks, I mean, it’s ok, I can do it, but I don’t love it. So, why would I spend my time buying knick knacks, even if I think they are cute, if I am just going to resent the time I spend cleaning them? Hope that makes sense!
So, if you want to limit your social media scrolling, try limit what you have. Maybe just stick to one app, and delete the app icon from your phone screen. If you want to use it, you need to search for the app.
If you want to avoid controlling other people, maybe focus on spending more time on liking yourself, that way you will be less focused on trying to make others like you.
If you want to spend less time in unnecessary meetings at work, maybe proactively chat to your boss about how many meetings are an appropriate amount, considering your work load.
Hopefully, you get the idea. By proactively planning in advance for decluttering your time wasters, you might be surprised how you can get on top of these things.
Lastly, remember to take a second!
This tip is for all those times that something unexpected comes up. Someone sends us a text asking us to do something. We get a social media notification, etc. The point to remember here is that your focus is valuable, everyone is trying to grab it. That’s why ads work..if you have people’s attention, you potentially have their money, etc.
So, if it happens that in the moment something tries to grab your attention, remember to take back control. Take a second and decide! Choose if you will allow it, is it ok with YOU? Remember YOUR attention is valuable.
I hope these couple of tips help you to get more focused on the things that matter to YOU, and more empowered to decide where you are going to allow YOUR attention to go. Your time and energy are yours to control, so it’s a great thing to be able to master them.
Thanks for reading, I’ll sign off here, but maybe you might like looking at:
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