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Tag Archives: Wasting Time

Daily Ramblings – Wisdom Wednesday

07 Wednesday Nov 2018

Posted by Dave Gardner in Wisdom Wednesday

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4 Areas, Building, Contributing, Freedom, Learning, Productivity, Wasting Time

“Freedom is nothing but a chance to be better.” – Albert Camus

Read more at https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/albert_camus_105894

Have you ever thought about the freedoms that you enjoy? Have you ever contemplated all of the opportunity and advantages we have over previous generations? Have you given any thought to the amount of time-saving technology that we now have access to?

I used to have to use a Thomas Guide to figure out where I had to go when I worked in Los Angeles. Now, I simply type in an address to my phone and it tells me where to go. I used to carry my daily plan, hand-written, and barely legible. Now, my to-do list is on the cloud, accessible by any device I can get onto. I used to carry around a bulky notepad to the gym. Now, I enter all my lifts into an app on my phone. The time savings that these applications provide are staggering when I consider what I used to have to do.

Think about the access you have to books, magazines, radio, music, movies, television shows, and sporting events. If you wanted to, you could literally own a phone and be able to get everything was done that used to take so much time. Think about your contacts. Your phone never forgets a phone number, an appointment, or what you must do today.

But there’s a dark side. With so much entertainment at our fingertips, it is easy to get carried away with video games, movies, and all the social media apps that are available. We must make conscious decisions about what we will do and what we will not do. For some, this is challenging. They waste their lives playing video games for hours and get nothing done. They surf YouTube for hours without reading, writing, or learning. They watch hours of television and for some reason can’t squeeze in 30 minutes of exercise. The list goes on and on.

We have the freedom and access to pursue whatever goals we set for ourselves. We also have the freedom to waste untold hours of time, doing absolutely nothing but staring at a screen.

Take some time today to really analyze what you do. Seriously. Write down what you do today in 15-minute increments. I think you’ll be shocked by the amount of time that you waste daily. How do you turn it around? The first step is setting goals.

Set a few goals. Your goals could be in four areas of your life. Set a spiritual goal. Set a learning goal. Set an exercise goal. Set a social goal. Don’t go crazy, just pick one goal in each of these areas. Then, figure out how you will attain the goal. Start small. Pick something you can dedicate time to each day. Maybe you’d like to pick up meditation. Perhaps learning a new language would be something you’d be interested in. What would you like to do for exercise? Is there a relationship you’d like to cultivate?

Start with these four areas and pick something you’d like to do. Schedule the activities you have for improving these four areas into your calendar or time-planner. Don’t miss a day pursuing small amounts of progress for each one. You will be absolutely amazed at the results.

With the freedom we have, we can either do great things or waste our lives. The more freedom we have; the more rope we have to hang ourselves. Don’t be a social media addict. Don’t be a binge watcher. Don’t be a video game addict. All of these will result in a wasted life. Instead, pursue something that will build a great life. Read, write, meditate, spend time with loved ones, exercise. Learn something new each day. This is your life. Make it a productive, service-oriented, fulfilling one.

Until next time…

Dave

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Daily Ramblings – Daily Quote – J.C. Penney

10 Tuesday Oct 2017

Posted by Dave Gardner in Quotes

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Achievement, Common Sense, Goals, Other's Goals, Wasting Time

Today’s Quote

“Give me a stock clerk with a goal and I’ll give you a man who will make history. Give me a man with no goals and I’ll give you a stock clerk.” – J.C. Penney

Pursuing a goal is important. Goals stretch us. Goals inspire us. Goals provide us a framework to act within to achieve something we identify with and is meaningful.

Sometimes we set goals that really aren’t that meaningful to us. I think some of this is related to pursuing something that someone else wants. This can lead to challenges because pursuing a goal typically requires some level of commitment and perseverance to achieve it.

If you have a goal and just can’t seem to get any traction, try reexamining it. You may find that it really isn’t a goal anymore. It may also be one of those goals mentioned above. It may be someone else’s goal and not really yours.

So, give yourself a break. If a goal you’ve set doesn’t really fire you up in the morning, drop it for a while. Put that on hold and pursue something else. Just take a break from that goal and concentrate on the goal or goals that are exciting to you.

Here’s a great article with other reasons to walk away from a goal by Amy Morin (2015). It doesn’t discuss my reason but provides a few more tools you can use to really understand whether you are pursuing a meaningful goal or wasting your time. Let’s face it, our values change from time to time.

Reference 

Morin, A. (2015). 5 times you should quit working on your goal and walk away. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/amymorin/2015/10/17/5-times-you-should-quit-working-on-your-goal-and-walk-away/#4dfd6d1a48e4

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Daily Quote

26 Saturday Aug 2017

Posted by Dave Gardner in Quotes

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Tags

Acts with ZERO ROI, Efficiency, Maximal Returns, Peter Drucker, Productivity, Wasting Time

Today’s Quote:

“Nothing is less productive than to make more efficient what should not be done at all.” – Peter Drucker

Wow!

Have you ever thought that you could squeeze more into your day by just being more focused and efficient? It is a nice thought, right?

Have you ever created a to do list system that is more complicated than the US tax code? I think this is what Mr. Drucker is talking about.

We all have 24 hours in a day. Some people use their time wisely, while others waste it. I think the real key to productivity is putting your efforts into tasks or projects that will maximize your return on investment (ROI). I can think of a few important things we could do each day that would provide maximal returns.

  1. Physical Exercise
  2. Reading
  3. Writing and Learning
  4. Meditating/Contemplating
  5. Spending uninterrupted time with loved ones.
  6. Attending Church, Temple, Mosque, or some other religious pursuit.

Can you think of any more? All of these provide significant returns for any time you invest. Can you guess what items may not bring the best long-term results?

  1. Uncontrolled television viewing.
  2. Uncontrolled video game playing.
  3. Uncontrolled web surfing/social networking.

Notice I placed uncontrolled in front of each of these. Uncontrolled means that you will do these things in place of other more important tasks, simply because you have ZERO control over your schedule. Television, video games, and social networking rule you.

I hope everyone has a great Saturday!

Until next time…

Dave

 

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