It’s 8 a.m. on a beautiful Saturday morning. No work. No rush. Slowly opening your eyes, squinting from the ray of sunshine that basked all over your face as you grab your phone. You turn on the internet, poof! a hundred dings and notifications popping on your phone’s app and then your day slowly takes off! Few hours later, still on phone and you are in the kitchen this time, preparing your brunch and the next thing you know, its 11 a.m.! Where did time go? You wonder.
Familiar scene, isn’t it?
Jim Rohn, one of the highly regarded American motivational speaker and personal development guru, once said to not spend major time on minor things. Well, he hit the nail on the head and without hesitation I’d be the first to admit that I am guilty on that. As adults, we play multiple roles every day and along with it comes a LOT of things, big or small, that needed to be accomplished. Are we efficient with our time? How do we differentiate a minor thing from a major thing?
Major things for me would include but not limited to:
- Accomplishing things related to work or business
- Doing online courses for personal development or professional growth
- Activities that promote health and self-care such as yoga, walking, running
- Hobbies
Meanwhile, these are some of the things I consider to be minor:
- Social media
- Trivial conversations
- Entertainment such as watching news, shows or movies (I’m not saying these are irrelevant activities but spending more than 2 hours doing this would be a complete waste of time. My opinion.)
The sad reality these days is because of the easy access of these so-called “digital companion”, we fall into prey with our usage on them that we lost track of our time. According to statistics, in 2019 and 2020, the average time people would spend on social media is about 2 hours and 42 minutes per day. Now if you do the math, you have 24 hours a day less 7 hours for sleep, 9 hours for work including commute, last-minute meetings etc., 1.5 hours for your 3 meals combined which would equal to 6.5 hours left. Now deduct 2.4 hours (for social media or online activities)and you are left with 4.1 hours of your day, considering you are close to these time allocation per activity. By the way, these are conservative figures and could vary each individual but as you can see in this simple illustration how limited our time is each day and you are left with barely 4 hours to spend with your loved ones, pursue your hobbies or new skills, relaxation and a bit of entertainment to cap your day. Unfortunately, time is a luxury which many people fail to recognize.
The question now is:
Why do we spend so much time on minor things?
Social media, for example, allows us to connect with our friends and family around the globe, it keeps us up-to-date with our favourite celebrities, news, and helps create online presence which is helpful if you are a business owner. Some people have this FOMO or fear of missing out from their circle of friends or with what’s happening around them. It is not bad wanting to be updated with our surroundings or to the people we care about. What we have to be very careful and wary is the amount of time we spend on social media. Sometimes we are caught up with the posts we see on Facebook or Instagram that we sacrifice other valuable and important tasks at hand. The constant checking of updates on our social media accounts or the feeling of urgency that we need to reply whenever we hear a ding on our phones detracts us from completing major things for that day. We assumed the idea that if we don’t reply right away to these chats or text messages, people might find us rude or care less about them. It’s a sad thought how these digital companions such as our mobile phones are turning humans into answering machine. I do not discount the idea that checking text messages from time to time is necessary as some of these could be about emergency situation but the “urgency” to reply to EVERY texts or chats is what is unnecessary. You are in no way obliged to reply right away and people should understand and respect that. Set boundaries if you want to take charge of your time and be productive about it.
To abate these feelings of guilt as being “slaves” to our phones, remember that social media apps such as Facebook and Instagram are designed to be “addictive” to the users because that’s how they make money. In his book, Digital Minimalism, Cal Newport cited how tech companies encourage behavioral addiction: intermittent positive reinforcement and the drive for social approval. What had started as a mindless way to check on our friends’ lives on Facebook is now interactive where you can hit not just Like but now includes heart, happy or sad emojis, you can share posts and comment. Do you remember when you post something on Facebook and how you constantly check how many likes or hearts and even comments you get? The unpredictability of the outcome is what makes it appealing to the users hence, most of us end up spending more time on our phones. The pseudo-pleasure that we get every time we see those notifications is just irresistible.
The awareness that time is limited and fleeting should motivate us to be selective and critical with how we utilize it. Learn to optimize your time and dispense it on activities that adds value to your life, not the opposite. We all need to relax and pamper ourselves once in a while like watching Netflix or having chitchat with our friends but be on a lookout with how much time you are spending on them. Carefully select and plan your tasks each day and be intentional about it. You don’t have to do a thousand things to be able to say you are productive, instead get a few good things such as enrolling yourself in an online course to learn a new skill and this will certainly put a value on yourself in the market.
I think its easy and tempting to spend major time on minor things because of the instant gratification we get from doing them, they are stress-free and engaging. In fact, most of these minor things we do are very relaxing, entertaining and paves a way for for a “quick escape” from reality. No wonder people spend a lot of time doing them.
The idea here is to simplify. As Marcus Aurelius once said, “You see how few things you have to do to live a satisfying and reverent life?” Indeed. Dismiss the idea that you still have a lot of time because the reality is YOU DON’T. Remember, the days are evil and one day you will die. The very thought that we will NEVER know exactly when is our earthly departure should be enough warning not to waste our time. Do the things that add value to your life, NOT to your virtual audience. Aim to have a screenless and genuine conversations. I like to think that technology can NEVER replicate real human interaction. Invest major time on things that truly matter.