“What a waste.”
What kind of feelings did you just have reading the phrase “What a waste?” Did you feel guilty? Did you feel ashamed? Did the phrase sound really familiar?
I grew up being pretty conscious of not wasting things, like food and material items. Conserve, conserve, and then conserve some more. And then reuse, please.
Many years later, I read an article (I regret that I didn't save it) that somehow linked being afraid of the idea of wasting things and Procrastination. Essentially, those who are afraid to waste things are more inclined to Procrastinate. At least that's how I remembered the content of the article.
And that seems to make total sense to me. If you are finely attuned to not causing waste, you are generally more inclined to hang on to things. And you guessed it ladies and gentlemen, Procrastinators tend to hang on to things way too long.
A central part of my own recovery from chronic Procrastination was understanding that when I hung on to things, I was wasting the asset I should have been protecting most carefully — time.
Gradually, I started re-evaluating all of my movements. Were they in line with my needs? Were they time-efficient? Over time, I began to feel much more comfortable with USING time well. I wasn't saddled with an amorphous feeling of time waste any more. I was able to develop goals that seemed bigger to me than “Don't be wasteful.” I now am happy to say, I use my time pretty well.
Here's a list of items you might have thought were wastes of your time and energy that are actually essential to healthy living:
- Exercise
- Taking time out or having down time
- Spending time with others
- Cleaning and tidying
- Being thoughtful about your goals and intentions
The list above contains items that on first thought, might make us feel fearful of taking all of our time up. But on second thought, each item on the list leads to us feeling lighter. Let's feel lighter.
There's always going to be a little bit of a time waste factor. We're human, not finely-tuned robots. And time speeds by really quickly. Enjoy those bits of waste as you learn to use the time that is yours with all the spirit you have. You won't be wasting your time.
News to share:
I invite you to join The Procrastination Coach Facebook Group if you are interested in recovering from your Procrastination and if you interested in being part of a thoughtful, supportive community. Please go here if you would like to start.
