How To Waste Your Time More Effectively

Time is one of the most valuable resources you have. When you waste or lose it, you can never get it back. You’ve probably been wasting a respectable chunk of time anyways so why not still do that, but more effectively?

I’ve taken the liberty of putting together a list of how you might waste time more effectively. Trust me. I should know, I was king among time-wasters.

My Time-Wasting Credentials

I’ve wanted to become a pilot for as long as I can remember. There’s nothing like the feeling that comes when the airplane lines up on the runway and the pilot applies full power. The roar of the engines, the vibration of the seats and weightlessness once the airplane rotates and takes off, there’s no feeling like it. So, from a young age of about 6, I promised myself that I would become a pilot.

Fast-forward, the day before my 24th birthday, my girlfriend at the time bought me a flight experience in a Cessna 172. I got a taste of what it’s like to fly an airplane. It was awesome! My dream was reawakened! And then it went right back to sleep in the back of my head. I would not do any more flying until March of 2020. My time wasting credits are top-notch.

With that said, here are are some top tips to waste time more effectively.

6 Ways To Waste Time More Effectively

1. Focus On What You Don’t Have

The financial cost of becoming a pilot held me back for a long time. I just didn’t have £65-£100k to spare. Last year, when I decided to focus on what I DID have, and what I COULD do, it led me to start living in my car. Long story short, I tripled my hours flown, studied 6 out of 9 of the topics required for a Private Pilot’s License and passed 2/2 exams taken.

Beware: Focusing on doing what you can with what you have is dangerous for time-wasting.

2. Keep Your Dream in the Back of Your Mind

The back of your mind is where your dream belongs. That way, when opportunities to progress show up, you won’t even recognise them, let alone take advantage of them.

3. Avoid Environments of Like-Minded People

One of the first things I did after deciding to live in my car was to open an instagram account. I started using hashtags like #aviation. Before I knew it, I had made new friends, one of whom has become something like a training partner who I have flight simulator sessions with. This has allowed me to make the kind of progress I would never have been able to make on my own.

To waste time more effectively, avoid real-life and virtual environments where you might find like-minded people who inspire you and hold you accountable.

4. Make Things More Complicated Than They Are

‘Do at least one thing everyday that moves you closer towards your dream.’ That idea is just way too simple and way too clear. To waste time more effectively, adopt the mindset that, “it’s more complicated than that” and then feel accomplished even if you haven’t done anything to move towards your dream in days, weeks, months and ultimately years. Bonus points if you can mange it for decades!

5. Fill Your Time With ‘Important’ Things That Do Nothing For Your Dream

Oh this is a good one! Doing a lot covers up the fact that you are going nowhere fast. It makes you feel important in the world without actually activating the deepest part of you, which is only activated when you move towards your dream. That way, you’ll probably wake up old one day, filled with regrets upon realising that you had so much potential but chose not to realise it.

6. Don’t Review Your Plan and Just Don’t Plan At All

The most successful people in the world seem to plan and then review their plans often – figuring out what worked, what didn’t and what can be improved. They just haven’t discovered the great advantage of not planning, and the beauty of never reviewing a plan that exists only in one’s head. That’s why they are rubbish at wasting time. Those silly billies!

Can you think of any other effective ways of wasting time? Drop a comment below!

Time is precious and valuable. Don’t waste time. If you do, you’ll never get it back.