Is there a meaningful distinction between useful "down" time and time wasted? Do you know anyone who appears to waste little time? If so, how does that person re-charge, i.e., what do they do during their useful "down" time? Which thing in your life that you consider a waste of time would you most like to jettison?
The goon squad called time is rarely far from the top of my consciousness. Probably starts with my introspective temperament, then moves quickly to my lifelong goal orientation, picking up speed with each newly learned larger-than-life story about someone, somewhere, sometime. You all know these stories even if you've never met one of these people. They waste little time, sleep far less than you or me, produce a staggering output. What do they do when they need to re-charge? What is the cost attached to living a life that wastes little time? Would you be willing to pay it? I would.
Today's reflection was birthed when a reader recently disinterred the post directly below, published on this date in 2011, my first year of blogging. The good news: I laughed while reading it because I made myself the butt of my own joke. The bad news: The perplexing habit referred to therein - a clear waste of time - is still with me fourteen years later.
I struggle with this concept especially when I am trying to produce something creative. As much as I wish there was a more direct way--often the best path to coming up with an idea is to follow whatever thought is interesting me the most, even if it seems pointless.
ReplyDeleteRegina; Sincerely appreciate your comments. Though I didn't specifically mention my creative efforts in this post - or in the earlier post included as a link therein - wasting time clearly has an impact in that domain of my life. I frequently find myself wasting time doing meaningless garbage (like scouring film books for useless ephemera) vs. getting down to the hard work of creating. But your insight about following those seemingly pointless paths in order to break through creatively is a useful way of looking at this dilemma. Issue: Falling into the trap of rationalizing the precious time being wasted.
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