HOW DO you make the most out of the time you have available every day? Spending time well means different things to different people. To some, it means you’re earning money, and to others, it might mean doing things that make you happy. No matter your answer, time well spent typically falls into one of three categories: doing things you can’t do when you’re older, taking part in activities you enjoy, and working toward your goals.
In this article, I explain how you can make the most out of your short time on earth. I will also share some of the best books on living a meaningful life, finding your passion, and spending your time in the best way possible.
Key Takeaways
- When you are 100 years old, you’re unlikely to live as if you’re in your 20s. That’s not to say it’s impossible, but it’s more strenuous to partake in physically demanding tasks.
- Happy people do things that make them happy. They know what it takes to elevate their mood and then they do it.
- When you are fully present, you can squeeze every drop of meaning and enjoyment from the task at hand.
- The likelihood that you can multitask and effectively divide your focus amongst several things is low.
The Best Time to Change Things Up Is Now
“It’s never too late to be who you might have been” is a popular quote by George Elliot that strikes a deep chord with many people. Think about it: Isn’t it true that we always think it’s too late to make a change?
We believe that we’re too old, that we lack the skill, or that we can no longer change our routines because of our past. We’re the victims of our own limiting beliefs. We also underestimate our ability for change.
The best time to change things up is now. If you feel like you haven’t been making the most out of your precious time on earth, and want to know how to live a better life, then I highly recommend reading one or more of these books:
- The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari: A Fable About Fulfilling Your Dreams & Reaching Your Destiny by Robin Sharma
- How to Stop Worrying and Start Living: Time-Tested Methods for Conquering Worry by Dale Carnegie
- The Alchemist: A Fable About Following Your Dream by Paulo Coelho
- Courage: The Joy of Living Dangerously by Osho
- Small Graces: The Quiet Gifts of Everyday Life by Kent Nerburn
- Life’s Golden Ticket: A Story About Second Chances by Brendon Burchard
- End the Struggle and Dance with Life: How to Build Yourself Up When the World Gets You Down by Susan Jeffers
- The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment by Eckhart Tolle
- Love Yourself Like Your Life Depends on It by Kamal Ravikant
- The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles by Steven Pressfield
What Time Well Spent Really Means
What it means to spend your time well is in the eye of the beholder. All answers, though, typically boil down to three things.
1. Doing Something You Can’t When You’re Older
To spend your time well means you take advantage of the things you’re unlikely to do as you age. Aging changes your priorities, perceptions, and perspectives, meaning with experience, we understand, value, and view things differently.
How teenagers view the world is profoundly different from adults, mainly because of the difference in brain development. Ask kids to list three things important to them, and they might say, “social media, video games, and friends” but if we ask the same question to adults, the majority might say, “family, health, and money.” Even though this is a generalization, how we value and look at things changes as we grow older.
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Some Tasks Become More Complicated with Age
Someday senility will set in, metabolism slows down, cell production declines, and you will naturally experience more fatigue. You experience more aches and weaknesses, which make it more challenging to do things that require a high level of exertion. It’s more taxing to have children, run a marathon, or climb a mountain as you grow old.
It’s not impossible, though …
The oldest person to ever give birth (to twins, in fact) is 73-years old. The oldest person to successfully climb Mount Everest is 80-years old, and the oldest person to ever run a marathon is 108-years old.
People can still achieve incredible accomplishments when they are aging. The process of getting older doesn’t, and shouldn’t, sideline you from being active or learning new things. It shouldn’t stop you from having an excellent quality of life.
However, when you are 100 years old, you’re unlikely to live as if you’re in your 20s. That’s not to say it’s impossible, but it’s more strenuous to partake in physically demanding tasks. What we deem important, and how we view things is always changing. Our priorities, perceptions, and perspective don’t remain the same throughout life. Therefore, it is best to take advantage of the things you can do now.
2. Doing Something You Enjoy
Here’s an obvious fact: Happy people do things that make them happy. They know what it takes to elevate their mood and then they do it. This might be, in fact, the only difference between someone who is content with their life and someone who isn’t.
It’s common that people work jobs that don’t bring them pleasure. They drag themselves out of bed every morning, dread the workday ahead, and spend the most precious hours of the day doing something they despise. While it might help them get by financially, it is not time well spent. Time well spent means you’re doing something you enjoy.
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Reflect on the Things That Make You Happy
What brings you happiness? Take some time to reflect:
- What’s something that makes me happy in both the short-term and the long-term?
- What behaviors and actions leave me feeling satisfied with myself?
- Think back to a time when you started the day feeling encouraged. What plan did you set out?
- Think back to a time when you ended the day feeling accomplished. What did you do?
The benefit of this approach is that you will learn what it takes to experience pleasure. Maybe you realize that spending time with friends and family is good for your mental health, or perhaps you learn that exercise leaves you feeling great about yourself. No matter what it is, take note and do more of it.
3. Working Toward Your Goals
Spending your time well also means that you are working toward success. If you want to become an author, you want to set aside time to writing and marketing your book. Similarly, if you want to be a professional athlete, you want to dedicate a few hours every day to training, stretching, or learning about the sport.
No matter your ambitions, you want to be focused on one task at a time. Time well spent on your goals means you pay attention to one thing, instead of multiple items simultaneously. When you are fully present, you can squeeze every drop of meaning and enjoyment from the task at hand. It allows you to cover all angles and helps you to single out what’s absolutely necessary.
If you want to be more present and want to avoid multitasking, it’s a good idea to take mindful walks or making daily meditations a part of your daily routine.
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Only 2.5 Percent of All People Are Capable of Multitasking
People who attempt to multitask intend to finish more tasks at a faster rate for the sake of saving time or passing boredom. They might add a more exciting task to one that’s boring so that we feel stimulated. This could be texting and driving, sending e-mails during meetings, or being on our phone at dinner.
While it’s understandable that multitaskers try to make the most out of their time and want to feel more productive, concentrating on multiple things at the same time usually has implications. In fact, the likelihood that you can multitask and effectively divide your focus amongst several things is low.
If you are amongst the people who can multitask (the likelihood of which is incredibly low1), you will also be much slower with what you’re doing. In a study, it was shown that multitasking doesn’t just decrease the quality of work being done, but also the speed at which you can perform.
So, in the end, multitasking doesn’t save you time nor make you more productive. It makes you produce few results, and it worsens the quality of your work. Focus on one thing at a time and set aside all distractions while you work. What one thing can you do today to make you feel accomplished?
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What Does Time Well Spent Mean to You
Now it’s time for you to decide: What does time well spent mean to you? Does it mean you’re doing something you can’t when you’re older? Does it mean doing something you enjoy? Does it mean working towards your goals? Or perhaps it’s something different altogether?
Whatever it is, write it out and take the first step today. If spending your time well means making money, then you want to come up with a plan for improving your financial situation. Similarly, if making the most out of your days means being happy, then you want to find out what brings you joy. Only when you take action is change possible. Remember, it’s never too late to be who you might have been.
References
- Watson, Jason M., and David L. Strayer. Supertaskers: Profiles in extraordinary multitasking ability. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 2010, pp. 479-85, doi.org/10.3758/PBR.17.4.479.