How do you spend your time?

The answers may vary according to lifestyle, personal philosophies, daily tasks among many more factors.

It requires a lot of effort and patience to track our habits and observe exactly what we do with each hour of the day.

How long will things be the same? Surely, I will be awake, I will sleep, I will be hungry, I will be cold, I will be hot. Is there no end? Do all things go in a circle?

seneca

Time is the only resource that doesn’t renovate. Once it’s gone, it’s gone forever. We tend to believe that we can leave plans for another time; for when conditions are “better”. The harsh truth is, we have less time than we think.

Life is fragile. Life is short. The past two years are proof of that. How can we be more mindful about our time?

At a personal level, one of the questions I’ve asked myself during the pandemic is, “am I doing what I’m supposed to be doing? Am I enjoying it?” I’ve come to realize the importance of assigning meaning to all the activities that take place on my day. If there’s any that feels off, no matter how small, then something has to change.

Everybody develops systems to keep track of the use of their time. Some people use logs; others, journals. Those who are more technology oriented rely on apps or more sophisticated software to gather information. Regardless of the method, once the data is there, what’s next? How do we ensure we’re spending time on the right activities when everything seems to be “priority’?

I propose spotting activities that shouldn’t be part of the daily routine. They might be there because they were useful in the past. If they’re not useful anymore, it’s time to purge them and keep the ones that are more meaningful or relevant to the work we’re doing.

So, how do you spend your time? Or how shouldn’t you be spending your time?