Everyone has time wasters in their life. For some, it is television or video games, for others it is the Internet. We all have had that moment where we look up at the clock and realize we just wasted half of the day on this certain activity. With all the technological toys and gadgets, cable channels, and websites out there, it is very easy to do. I know. Trust me on this. I know there are days I waste plenty of time and kick myself for doing it.
I just watched that movie Wall Street with Michael Douglas (the sequel). In the movie, Gordan Gekko (Douglas’ character) is released from prison after an eight year sentence. When talking about money he says, “if there’s one thing I learned in prison it’s that money is not the prime asset in our lives. Time is.”
Time is the most precious commodity we have. It is something we can not save up for a rainy day. It is not something we can buy more of. We only have the time allotted to us. The truth is nobody knows how much of it we have. It can run out at any moment. Often times, without sufficient warning.
I mentioned in another post about how God’s gift to us is life and we don’t know when it will run out. As tragedy strikes, people’s lives can change in a matter of a few days or hours. When life is cut short, it affects so many others-spouses, children, friends, etc. This was once again brought to my attention with a recent death of someone in my life.
Time is the Greatest Equalizer
Time is the greatest equalizer of human beings. It doesn’t matter if you are poor or rich, old or young. No class of people have more of it than any other class. This is true for all ages, genders, and races. Every single human being has 24 hours a day and they can not get more. All the money in the world can’t buy time. But you can spend it wisely or you can waste it. Or you can invest it into something good or valuable.
So much of this precious time is spent on things like getting MORE money or how to have nicer material things. Other times we waste it on things that do not involve live interactions with real people – we “collect” friends on Facebook, we get the highest score on an Internet game, or we text others while we miss out on the conversation going on right in front of us.
How much time is invested into loved ones, the community, or time with God and all the beauty around us?
Obviously, money is necessary for life on this planet. We all have to pay our bills, go on vacation, invest, etc. Yes, money is a required commodity, but it is also to be used to help make the world a better place. It is not to be squandered so you live well above your means and you idolize things more than relationships.
“The highest use of capital is not to make more money, but to make money do more for the betterment of life.”
and
“The man who will use his skill and constructive imagination to see how much he can give for a dollar, instead of how little he can give for a dollar, is bound to succeed.” ~Henry Ford
So, how do you invest your time?
The word “investment” is used here because the way we choose to spend our time truly is an investment in ourselves and the future of our own lives, the lives of our loved ones, and our community.
Be productive with your time.
It becomes quite easy to waste time and not get anything productive done. But, if you organize your time efficiently, focus on the important tasks at hand, choose motivating and inspiring activities, you will have more time to invest in other aspects of your life.
Analyze how you waste or invest your time. Remember, time is our greatest asset and we never know when we will run out. As the Latin phrase “Carpe Diem!” translates, “Seize the Day!”
About Julie McElroy
Yes of course time is very precious and in todays market people are charging money for time spent. Time has very importance and specially in business.
Well time.. hmm.. Einstien & the idea of “relativity” comes to mind.. Yes how do we choose to do this or that? And who is doing the choosing for us. Society, our family or friends etc.. I keep coming back to my own expereince & the ancient saying “Know thyself”. Yes a lifelong process, & the trouble is that Self is changing & evolving as we go. Yes of course sufficient quiet time is essential.. away from the TV, computer or whatever. I like to sit in a park somewhere with beautiful old shady trees, while ‘plugged in’ to my mobile headphones.. listening to an interesting radio program.. while thinking, or reading, & or writing in my ‘real’ diary.. While also occasionally going back over it to see what I was writing-thinking about on a previous day etc. Yes, time for reflection & watching the world go by.. As to whether I’m wasting my time.. I guess it’s all relative to my doing what feels right for me.. or not. Moment to moment.
It sounds like you are not wasting time – reflection is a good use of time! We all need time to just “veg”. I understand that, but I guess is it to be looked at as you life on a whole. Thanks for your comment!
Hi Julie,
I agree with the use of the term “investment” while talking about time. A human being can either spent it in the positive way when he/she use it to reach for goals or the contrary to spent in the negative way when he/she waste it. Hereby, it’s important that every body ask himself/herself this question and answer honestly!
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Hello from Texas Julie–
Great posting that you wrote here. I see so many people wasting time with drugs, alcohol, games, partying, etc.
I wish everyone had the same outlook on life as you do!…Thanks for this post, I am forwarding it to my college roomate!
John
Poker Tutorials
Thanks John! I didn’t even mention time wasted doing those destructive behaviors – thanks for passing it on!
Yup–(new)big fan of the blog. Keep it up. Look forward to reading more soon…
john
Poker Bankroll
In todays world, time is the most precious think to have. As the saying goes like this “Time is money” and i am sure that only a person who is good at time management can take the advantage of every opportunity. Those who are just wasting there time and doing nothing or doing things that are not productive, are considered to be the real fools. Having some time management in your life means that a person could live a better and peaceful life and can manages his work according to his time. Thanks for the informative and useful post….
Thanks for the comment – time management is a very good skill to have – some are definitely better at it then others!
Thanks for the useful post and i hope that it would bring some nice changes in life and i can become more efficient in my work. Keep up the good work….
I like you post and its quite great to read through it as there is lot of advices in it about analyzing that where are you putting up your time and how to manage it in a efficient way. Thanks for the post and keep up the good work….
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it!
I totally understand where you are coming from. I used to be really bad about getting distracted. I would sit down to write a short blog post and after 3 hours of checking email, and Facebook, I would be nowhere close to finished. After so many wasted days, I finally figured out I had to make lists.
Now each week I make lists. Daily lists and weekly list. Each day I start my list and don’t do anything else until it is finished. You might think this takes up so much time. I was amazed that after a few days of doing this, I actually had much more time to have fun.
It is amazing how much work I actually get done these days. I still waste time sometimes, but nothing like before.
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I can completely relate! That Internet thing can be distracting. I, too started lists! It is amazing how simply writing a to do list down helps! Seeing things get crossed off, and seeing the long list can be motivational to get things done! Thanks for the comment.
Julie,
Once again a timely post for me. I’ve downloaded an app for a game I used to play as a kid. My iPhone is now a gaming platform. I’ve got to put it in it’s proper place as it’s too much of a time waster. I’ve got a bell that can ring when I’ve played enough and I won’t pick it up until the rest of my work is done as a reward.
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LOL! One reason I don’t have a Smart Phone – one more thing to occupy my time! It is so easy to get distracted… look a puppy… (BTW, I added you to my BlogRoll which I am putting on my blog)
Julie McElroy recently posted..3 Simple Ways to Get Subscribers to your Website
One word for this post: brilliant! I couldn’t agree with you more, Julie. As Denis Waitley once put it, “time is the most precious element of human existence.” I stress everyday to my kids the importance of focusing on the tasks at hand and effectively structuring your time. Do you mind if I tweet a link to this post? Thanks in advance and keep doing what your doing!!
Thanks!! I am glad it was helpful! You can absolutely tweet this. I appreciate you kind words and comment!
I can consider that I’m investing my time wisely. I know that earning online isn’t that easy but the fact that I’m learning something new every single day. Yeah, all invested time online served as a good start to all my dreams.
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Absolutely! Education is never a waste of time!
Yes, time is money and all that. It’s also a great equalizer – Ghandi, MLK, Edison, Newton – they all had the same number of hours in the day as everybody else, but accomplished such monumental things.
Personally, I’ve always been a bit of a workaholic and worked long hours at a stretch. As a new parent though, I’ve come to see another side of the efficiency and monetary value of time. I’ve made the conscious effort to make time every day to just sit and play with my son, take a walk, do nothing ‘productive.’ I am so glad I’ve done this as the time we’ve spent together, while not efficient or monetarily productive, has been some of the most fulfilling of my life so far. It would have been so easy for me to push off that quality time till tomorrow based on work that had to get done today.
And, in an ironic turn, freeing up that down time to just enjoy being a parent has probably made me more focused while i am in work mode.
Playing with your son it totally productive!! You are spot-on, when you have balance it makes you more productive in the long run!