We all struggle to find enough time in the day for everything. From work, family, home, and horses it is difficult to fit all the things into one day. We also live in a time where it’s easy to waste time. I’m just as guilty as the next at wasting time! This post is going to outline the XX things you might do every day that waste your time.
I don’t think we WANT to waste time. Though sometimes it is inevitable. But let’s identify the things that a lot of us do that waste time.
If you can start to identify these time wasters, you may be able to claim back some hours in the day.
Don’t worry, I don’t consider long hours at the barn as one of these time wasters!
1. Watching too much TV.
The average American watches three hours of TV a day. Even if you typically watch a lot of TV, try to use the time for something else: ie relax, spend time with your horse, or start a side hustle. Don’t watch TV just because you don’t feel like you can do anything else. Your time could be used for something more meaningful.
2. Spending too much time on your phone.
We’ve all fallen for the trap, mindlessly scrolling Instagram, TikTok or Facebook for hours on end. It is easy to open an app on your phone and get lost in it. But this can be a huge waste of time in your day.
Try to have set breaks during your day to scroll with no purpose but set a time limit. There are apps you can add to your phone or set to control your aimless scrolling.
3. Not Planning your Day.
Keeping a calendar and keeping important information updated on that calendar is very important to not waste your (or anyone else’s time). Make sure you have a method that works for you to remember appointments. If you forget to attend appointments, you may be charged a no show fee and it’s really quite rude to the person that reserved that time for you!
Don’t waste your time by missing important parts of your day.
5. Procrastinating.
“A year from now you may wish you had started today” -Karen Lamb
Procrastination feels good at the time because you aren’t doing something you need to do, but later you will regret it. Try not to waste your time by procrastinating. If you have time to do something you need to do, just do it.
This holds true for all aspects of your life – horses, work, play. If you want your horse to learn something or reach a goal, start today. Make it habit and work on it. There is no better time than now!
Utilizing a planner or to do list can help you lay out daily or weekly priorities so you don’t let things slip by.
6. Multi-Tasking Too Much.
Multi Tasking is great, but if you are trying to do so many things at once that you never do one of them well, then it wasn’t worth it.
Make sure you understand your boundaries for multi-tasking and don’t agree to things you don’t have time for! I know I am especially guilty of this at work.
7. Having Too Much “Stuff”.
This goes for the barn and at home! Having so many things you never know where they are or you spend time picking them up every day, is just wasting time in your day. You don’t use every thing you own every day and the things you aren’t using, get rid of them.
Don’t keep 10 saddles if you only own one horse. Don’t keep clothes that don’t fit you. Don’t buy something just to by something. That sort of thing! Having less stuff will free up time and space in your daily life.
8. Not Meal Planning nor keeping a shopping list.
You know when you go to the store hungry and you just needed something for dinner that night, but you ended up spending $100 and still don’t know what you’re having for dinner? Yeah, been there. Meal planning and making a shopping list you’ll stick to will save you time at the grocery store as well as time deciding what to eat.
I have a great post on meal planning, and it has saved me so much money on groceries over the years! I still meal plan and only go to the store every two weeks or if I really need something in between. I’d rather go for a ride than take an extra trip to the grocery store.
9. Not Consolidating Work or Errands.
When you have to go out to get groceries, go to the post office, pick up the dry cleaning, etc – make sure you plan and consolidate your errands. This will save you a ton of time. It sucks to get home and realize you forgot to go somewhere and then have to go all the way back out again just to do that extra errand you missed.
This also goes for work, if you can consolidate work activities, do it. It will save you time in your work day! If you already have to fill out a spreadsheet or write a report for one thing, and you know you’ll need to do it again for a different account, get them both done at the same time. You’ll be on that task to begin with and will be more efficient completing it.
10. Doing too much.
If you have a hard time saying no, you may be taking on too much. Saying yes too often in work or your personal life can lead to wasting a lot of time spinning your wheels with too many things and too little time. If you continue to say yes, you will never have time to finish what you want and need to do in a day.
Try to prioritize your tasks and not take on so much that you can’t finish your work or personal tasks. Learn to say no sometimes so you don’t overdo it.
In Summary, a lot of smaller things can add up to a lot of wasted time every day. This list should help you identify what may be wasting your time. Identifying these time wasting activities is the first step to stop wasting time! Improvements to your time management will help gain time to spend at the barn!
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