Yet, I often find myself wasting my time idling away the minutes, because I only have maybe 10 here or 5 there to spare. Not enough to begin a new project, but I will need to do a new thing or be a new place in a few minutes. It's a constant low level of frustration for me, to be honest. I am a project planner and finisher, well inside my head I am. In reality I am a frayed mother, a caregiver with chronic illness who is often burning the candle at both ends, but trying to learn to only burn it at one, even if it's a hard process to learn. It goes against the mindset of my constantly busy goal setting brain. My perfectionist self would have me living in a white glove house, perfect manicure, never missing a workout, volunteering for charities, and more. I don't know who that person is, but I make a to-do list for her every day. Hahaha.
I'm finding these few minute gaps in my day to be the most challenging to fill, as odd as it seems. I used to really enjoy spending a few minutes here and there throughout the day checking in on social media. I'd pop in, chat with friends, post a little and be on my way. Now it's a litany of angry political posts, and clickbait articles with mean comments underneath. So, I scroll and I scroll hoping to find
some kind of human connection, but 7 times out of 10 there isn't much of anything personal to be seen. Social media has kinda morphed into an impersonal algorithm of ads and shared political graphics that are half true at best. For me it's become less enjoyable than it used to be, so I need to look for a new way to not only fill those time gaps in my day, but also to find that social connection. Because, yeah.... online is most of my social world outside of my husband, kids and those that associate with them. I'm okay with that. I'm okay with less that that at times, too.
I think a good place to begin for me would be making a list ( I like making lists!) of as many activities or projects that I can think of that I like to do , or might enjoy and work my way through them. As I try out new things, hopefully my time will shift from negative scrolling of social media, and my frustration level will decrease. I also think that the scrolling is partly due to executive functioning issues. Once I start doing it I do have a hard time stopping, even if I am not wanting to continue, which also frustrates me a lot. I need to find something that I find enjoyable that is doable with small amounts of time to be picked up, and left off. Something that is for me.
After some trial and error I will try to remember to come back here for a part two to let you all know how it goes, and what worked, and what didn't.
Do you have any similar issues? What has worked for you?
I can’t necessarily say what works for me, because I do the same thing. I don’t even want to know how much time I’ve wasted on social media to “fill the gaps” in my day. I know that once I start a project, I’ll lose track of time and be late, or realize I could have been doing something much more productive with my time.
ReplyDeleteSocial media is addictive and I try not to let that addiction consume my day. I have two young kids and I don’t like to be on my phone when they’re around.
My only thought for passing those few minutes here and there without resorting to social media is maybe an adult coloring book. Or a doodle pad. Something to occupy your hands and mind that’s easier to stop when need-be.
That is a good idea. I do have a coloring book that I bought a couple of years ago that I haven't ever really used. Thanks for the suggestion!
DeleteI like to crochet. only one stich is active at a time so it's easy to pick up and put down. If I'm making something small, it can fit in my bag with me and I can take it out if I need to wait for a few minutes. Crochet is faster than knitting, too, so it's easier to actually complete something.
ReplyDeleteIf I have to wait in the kitchen for something then usually I spend five minutes washing some dishes or something. The kitchen is always dirty enough to eat up any spare minutes I might have waiting for water to boil for tea or whatever.
You're probably right. The kitchen is always a mess somewhere. I never could get the hang of crocheting, but I could try some other type of crafty thing that is easy to pick up and put down.
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