How Not To Become Obsessed With The Fear Of Wasting Time
Surely you have ever felt that you were wasting time when you carried out any activity that you considered “non-productive.” coming to obsessively think that you should be doing more useful.
Many people may feel that their daily time is being wasted when in theory they dedicate it to doing something that fulfills them or makes them happy, especially if it does not fit with the logic of the labor market and the constant search for profitability in monetary terms, for example. on the one hand, or household chores and family responsibilities, on the other.
This obsession with not wasting time can become a real mental health problem, generating significant wear and tear in the medium and long term. Therefore, in this article we will focus on an idea that is as important as it is simple: the need to have time to waste
If in your daily life you notice that stress, anxiety or even the feeling of guilt takes over you for the simple fact of having a few minutes that you do not know what to allocate to, or if you have assumed that your free time should be spent always training yourself, making friends or doing something that, in general, gives you the feeling of accumulating progress… All of this is a sign that you have not established a healthy relationship with your time management.
Therefore, below I will show you a series of ideas and principles that you can apply to your daily life so as not to become obsessed with the fear of “wasting time.”
1. Value time for ourselves to preserve mental health
Some people become obsessed with the idea that all the time spent daily must be productive in one way or another, that is, that we must carry out activities that bring us a benefit, whatever that may be. But We must overcome this notion of permanent productivity
In this sense, beginning to conceive the time we dedicate to ourselves as valuable is the first step to avoid falling into the feeling of guilt in situations of this type. And to do this, it is important not to lose sight of the fact that we are not robots, but living beings with needs that cannot be expressed in words or numbers (not even those in our bank account).
Mental health is key To have a good quality of life, and to maintain it, means having free time and moments of leisure that do not have to translate into concrete or easy-to-identify gains. It is a self-care process.
2. Knowing that disconnecting helps us rethink things
Medical science has been able to demonstrate that moments of relaxation are when the best ideas happen and also the solutions to complex problems in which we could be anchored or blocked. Stress leads us to behave through automatisms to respond to very short-term needs, while Calm moments allow us to mix ideas and mental images to give rise to creativity
The time we dedicate to introspection or simply to disconnect from work by dedicating ourselves to light and unpretentious hobbies can help us get to know ourselves better, an intellectual process in which we begin to rethink the things we think we know about the “I.” , to break certain psychological inertias and to think beyond the classic schemes that we usually use.
This allows us to draw new conclusions from other points of view that can be very useful to solve old problems or find new solutions to future issues.
Likewise, as indicated, in the moments that we dedicate to ourselves and in which we have sufficient relaxation and comfort, we can put into practice processes of deep personal self-knowledge that allows us to know ourselves better and make important decisions with greater judgment.
Self-knowledge does not happen if we do not have that time that takes us to ask ourselves the important questions, that time that allows us to be relaxed, quality time with ourselves.
3. Enhancing moments of relaxation helps us reset
Apply relaxation routines to our daily lives allows us to let go of the worries that have kept us in a state of paralysis because we do not dare to face the true cause that causes them. It is a way to “reset” our mind to smell with renewed strength the challenges that life poses to us, and through other routes of thought that have not been carved by anxiety.
Relaxation techniques help us find states of balance, both physically and emotionally, and allow us to approach life with a better philosophy, valuing other good things we have, instead of obsessing over the negative, such as the feeling of wasting time.
People who consider that they waste time when they do not dedicate it to work or any paid activity usually present high levels of stress, anxiety or other previous psychological pathologies.
By putting into practice effective relaxation techniques we will be able to reduce any type of psychological alteration and enter into a state of well-being based on emotional balance
Some of these techniques may be conscious breathing, progressive relaxation, yoga, meditation or Pilates.
4. Appreciating what we have in life is essential to enjoy it
In order not to become intensely obsessed with the fact that we are wasting time when we spend quality time with our closest friends or family, it is important to value some small things that make us give meaning to life. If we only pay attention to our goals, frustration will take over our routine
For example, when we are with a family member we should think about how lucky we are to have them and that we should make the most of the time we have with that person.
By valuing the importance of close interpersonal relationships or taking into account the luck we have in life, we will be able to put in the foreground those activities that fulfill us without needing to be productive.
