Waste Of Time
Sometimes I write things that don’t ever get published. I start with an idea in the OneNote App in my phone - the digital notebook where I start a new page anytime I have a moment of inspiration. Sometimes I just write down the initial idea and eventually delete it. Other times I add to it, edit it, and work it into the best blog post I can write. Sometimes, I do all that, and I still don’t post it.
Every step you take toward your better self won’t be something worth talking about or showing, but that doesn’t mean it was a waste of time. Every time I put words to paper I am spending time doing something I love. I am putting hours into a craft and those hours add up.
I have written in previous posts about Malcolm Gladwell's 10,000 hours rule in his book, Outliers. In short, it’s the idea (based on research) that anyone can become an expert in something if you put enough hours into it (for more examples see this post: You Can't Be Extraordinary Without Giving Extra). When I think about those hours of practice, I usually think about practicing something you’re trying to get better at, like a sport or other hobby - intentional time set aside to “work” on something. Those hours are easy to sacrifice because it's part of your larger plan to reach a certain goal; but what about the hours you didn’t intend to sacrifice?
What happens when you spend hours on a post you hope to publish, but it turns out the topic is just not that good? Or when you are running late for something and suddenly you’re spending extra minutes in the car? Is it all a waste of time? All that time writing and no blog post to show for it… what a waste. Three weeks given to jury duty instead of my book or job hunting… ughhhhh, this ruins all my plans. Another meeting that seemed to serve no purpose… this could have been an email.
It would be easy to classify all of it as a waste, but if we take another look we might find that those hours wasted are actually being spent practicing essential skills - patience, humility, empathy, communication, kindness. I don’t know about you, but practicing patience is not something I typically put on my to-do list. The moments when we end up honing those skills are the situations we didn’t plan for; what starts as an inconvenience might actually be an opportunity.
The next time you do something and think that was a waste of time, try to take a second to find some purpose in it. All that time writing and no blog post to show for it… any time spent writing will hone my skills as a writer. I am improving one unpublished post at a time. Three weeks given to jury duty instead of my book or job hunting… hours sitting stuck in a chair waiting for court is the gift of time. Time to be silent. Time to read. Time to write. Time is a gift, especially when it wasn’t planned. Another meeting that seemed to serve no purpose… this meeting probably still could have been an email… but what can I learn from it? What would I do different? Can I bring some joy to this dull interaction?
What is something going on in your life right now that you need to reframe? Hours given practicing something you love (or practicing patience, kindness, gratitude…) is time well spent, you just need to look for it and reframe your attitude; it’s not time wasted, it’s time invested.
