Time can be the most important commodity for any aspiring author. Many of us have day jobs, little ones to look after, pets to walk, creepy guys to not text back, dragons to slay, back hair to comb, and so on. All of these things are poking your shoulder saying "Hey I need attention!" How do you manage your time? I don't have all the answers. I'm still trying to figure it all out myself. I am always evolving and trying to learn better ways to do things. I just realized something recently, and that's what this blog post is all about. I was investing too much time into the time suck.
What is the Time Suck?
Is it some kind of succubus feeding off of your soul? Is it a leech trying to get at your blood? Is it a baby trying to get some milk? A time suck is anything that you do that doesn't provide an adequate return on your investment of time.So what would you consider to be a good return on your investment? It depends on what you are doing. If it is something that helps bring value in some way then you can justify it. If it doesn't then you know it's a time suck you shouldn't be investing your time in. Let's take a look at some of my recent time sucks.
My Recent Time Sucks
- Arguing politics on Facebook It is a waste of time trying to convince people who have no intention of listening to you or changing their minds. It's like arguing with a brick wall. There are people like this on both sides of the political spectrum, and they annoy me. It's like that itch in the middle of your back that you can't reach. Example: One guy tried to argue math with me. I was a math major in college, so the mention of math makes me like a dog that found a butt he hadn't sniffed. He tried to argue that one rate was monumentally larger than the other. It was something like 0.000000000003% vs. 0.000000000001% and the margin of error was 1.5%. So I'm like dominating the argument, but he still calls me an idiot. smh...
- Replying to Celebrities on Twitter I am wasting time replying directly to celebrities. They aren't going to retweet. They aren't going to reply. They might not even read it. So why? It makes more sense to quote them and comment on it for my own followers without worrying about what the celeb thinks.
- Video Games No chance of a return on investment. The only thing I can say is that it might help me stay sane. Wait... the voices in my head say that's not going to happen.
- Playing with my Smartphone I am a tech nerd. I can't help it. I love my Galaxy Note Edge. I have been playing with different apps lately and in general just messing around with it. I recently reorganized my edge app tabs. It is something that was time consuming, but did it really need to be done? Does the time spent on it justify all the time missed where I could have been playing with My Little Pony dolls? Err... I mean... writing?
- Watching Silly Documentaries on Netflix Do I really need to know the latest research being done on Bigfoot? or about secret files on aliens? I know some of this stuff is really far out there, but I like to watch it to see some of the silliness that some people actually believe. Cthulu is sorely under represented on Netflix.
The More You Know
Take a look at the things that you are spending time on in your life. Ask yourself, "Hey what am I getting out of this?" If the answer is Herpes then you might want to reexamine your life. You can cut out the time suck. That could give you those extra few seconds needed to save yourself from Godzilla when he comes.So what are some of the time sucks in your life? What can you cut out that would help give you some extra time? When you comment here it gives me the warm fuzzies inside. Let's identify the time sucks and stab them with the rusty spoon of justice! Let's reclaim our lost time and be more productive!
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