Wasted Time

Many people complain about not having enough time. “If only the day had an hour more”. But if the day had an hour more, it had an hour more for everyone. And you would demand more of yourself, ending up complaining, “if only the day had an hour more”.

What happens is that people get really nervous and stressed out when they have to wait somewhere. When people in front of them are walking slowly, when an old lady needs a minute to count all the small coins at the cash register, when the subway has a stop that is longer than expected, …

Our mind is already ahead, at the next task. In our office, apologizing to the boss why we’re late, or we’re glued to the mobile phone, desperately trying to “not waste our time” and to “put it to good use”.

But on the other hand we complain that we don’t have enough time off, time for ourselves, to relax, switch off, charge our batteries.

How can our mind relax if we tell it every second that it should be doing something “useful”, do it faster, and do more than is possible in one day.

Why not instead, take the moment, the minute or two, of unexpected waiting, for ourselves. Savour it as a moment of calmness in our busy life that we can spend with ourselves. Abandon all the thoughts of what is to come and what could go wrong and what we need to think about later.

Why not take a deep breath, let the old lady do her thing, or just accept that we will be one minute late at work.

You’ll be amazed how one small moment of calmness, of disconnecting can calm down your mind racing, your heart rate, your feeling of always being late.

Taking a moment is something that you can practice.

All you need is the will to do so.

How to learn to “take a moment”?