WEBVTT - Second Cup: Wasting time

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<v Speaker 1>Good morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

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<v Speaker 1>Every weekday morning, I'll be sharing a strategy to help

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<v Speaker 1>you take your day from great too awesome. In future

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<v Speaker 1>episodes we'll dive right into the tips, but in these

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<v Speaker 1>first few episodes, I'm introducing myself and talking about why

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<v Speaker 1>time matters and what time management really means. Today, I

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<v Speaker 1>want to talk about wasting time. What does it mean

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<v Speaker 1>to waste time, how does it happen? What should we

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<v Speaker 1>do about it? Different people have different definitions. Generally, wasting

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<v Speaker 1>time sounds like a bad thing. You're squandering something precious,

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<v Speaker 1>but precisely because it has a negative connotation, some people

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<v Speaker 1>like to show how clever and contrary they are by

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<v Speaker 1>assigning a certain romanticism to wasting time. Spend enough time

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<v Speaker 1>online and you'll notice that a lot of the people

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<v Speaker 1>write very similar essays. They proudly note that they don't

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<v Speaker 1>buy into puritan notions that all time must be productive.

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<v Speaker 1>They describe a scene of them doing some allegedly frivolous thing,

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<v Speaker 1>staring at the clouds. Oh, the world groans in protest,

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<v Speaker 1>but our essayist is proud of such wasted time. Some

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<v Speaker 1>of this writing is much better than others. It's also

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<v Speaker 1>got a lot of historical precedent. When I first started

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<v Speaker 1>writing about time management, a friend sent me John Keats's

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<v Speaker 1>poem Owed on Indolence, which was written in eighteen nineteen.

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<v Speaker 1>He talks of being visited by the shadow of ambition,

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<v Speaker 1>but sending her off, noting that you cannot raise my head.

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<v Speaker 1>Cool bedded in the flowery grass, Keats just wants to

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<v Speaker 1>lie there staring up at the sky, to which I

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<v Speaker 1>say great. I think taking breaks to clear our heads

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<v Speaker 1>as smart. If we took breaks by going outside and

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<v Speaker 1>staring at the clouds, we would be rejuvenated and energized.

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<v Speaker 1>That's not wasted time at all. Unfortunately, when most of

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<v Speaker 1>us take breaks, what we do is read arguments between

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<v Speaker 1>people calling each other names on Twitter, or we look

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<v Speaker 1>at photos on Facebook of people we didn't like in

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<v Speaker 1>high school. Anyway, we don't emerge inspired. So I want

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<v Speaker 1>to offer a different definition. Being productive means spending your

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<v Speaker 1>time in ways that are meaningful or enjoyable for you

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<v Speaker 1>are the people you care about. Wasting time means spending

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<v Speaker 1>time in ways that aren't advancing you towards the life

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<v Speaker 1>you want. This definition sounds reasonable at first blush, though

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<v Speaker 1>if you think about it, it's kind of radical. All

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<v Speaker 1>sorts of things that sound productive don't meet this definition.

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<v Speaker 1>Spending an hour before bed picking up toys that will

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<v Speaker 1>just come out again the next morning is wasted time

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<v Speaker 1>unless you really love doing it. If you don't love it,

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<v Speaker 1>you would have been better off doing something you would enjoy,

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<v Speaker 1>like reading a book. Under this definition, work is responsible

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<v Speaker 1>for all sorts of wasted time. For instance, I firmly

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<v Speaker 1>believe that the point of a meeting is to change

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<v Speaker 1>something in the world. So if that Tuesday morning staff

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<v Speaker 1>meeting changes nothing beyond rendering everyone in the room ninety

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<v Speaker 1>minutes older, that is wasted time. Email can be like

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<v Speaker 1>this too. In Juliett's School of Possibilities, my time management fable,

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<v Speaker 1>the main character falls into the trap of responding to

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<v Speaker 1>all emails as quickly as possible. This seems productive, but

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<v Speaker 1>of course it isn't, because the reason so many people

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<v Speaker 1>email her is that they think she has good ideas.

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<v Speaker 1>Her obsession with her inbox crowds out all time to

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<v Speaker 1>think up the good ideas that will serve her clients,

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<v Speaker 1>So this is wasted time. This is a tough definition,

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<v Speaker 1>but don't feel bad by this definition. Most of us

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<v Speaker 1>waste tons of time. I know I do. I spend

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<v Speaker 1>all kinds of time on things that don't feel particularly

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<v Speaker 1>meaningful or enjoyable to myself or the people I care about,

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<v Speaker 1>or like Twitter. They feel enjoyable for the first three minutes,

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<v Speaker 1>but not the next forty five. Thanks to the screen

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<v Speaker 1>time feature on the iPhone, I am now confronted with

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<v Speaker 1>my statistics un wasted time in a little moment of

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<v Speaker 1>reckoning every Sunday morning. Since I study my time, I

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<v Speaker 1>know what leads to these Internet rabbit holes, or to

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<v Speaker 1>time spent puttering around the house moving paper from one

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<v Speaker 1>pile to another. It's actually a bit of a paradox.

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<v Speaker 1>I think most of us waste time because we assume

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<v Speaker 1>we have no time. Because we assume we have no time,

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<v Speaker 1>we don't think about what we'd like to do with it.

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<v Speaker 1>When a spot of time does appear, we do the easiest,

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<v Speaker 1>most effortless thing, which is often picking up the phone

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<v Speaker 1>or some other pointless means of busting boredom. When I

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<v Speaker 1>think about it, then I do better. If I'm facing

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<v Speaker 1>an empty weekend afternoon of sibling squabbles, I load everyone

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<v Speaker 1>in the car and go to the y m c

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<v Speaker 1>as indoor pool, or after the kids go to bed,

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<v Speaker 1>I make sure I have a really good book, so

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<v Speaker 1>this low energy time can be spent on something slightly

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<v Speaker 1>more edifying than Twitter insults. Thinking about time is the

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<v Speaker 1>antidote to wasting time. You can think I'd like to

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<v Speaker 1>go lie cool bedded in the flowery grass, just like

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<v Speaker 1>John Keats, and then go do it and enjoy yourself immensely.

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<v Speaker 1>That's not wasting time at all. This is Laura. Thanks

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<v Speaker 1>for listening, and here's to making the most of our time. Hey,

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<v Speaker 1>everybody got a tip or a question. You can share

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<v Speaker 1>them with me on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram at Before

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<v Speaker 1>Breakfast Pod that's be the number four then Breakfast p

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<v Speaker 1>o D. You can also email me at Before Breakfast

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<v Speaker 1>Podcast at iHeart Media dot com. For the email, just

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<v Speaker 1>spell those words out. I look forward to connecting and

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<v Speaker 1>learning how you make the most of your time.