I don’t think it’s possible to waste time. Sure, we’re only given so much, but how can you waste it? Waste money, sure. Waste water, or food, or fuel? Definitely possible. How can you waste time? It passes at the same speed regardless of if you’re using it to watch bad Alaskan reality TV shows or using it to write that novel, start your blog, or spend an hour on the beach with your camera.
Even your job isn’t a waste of time. Maybe you’d rather be doing anything else, but it’s giving you a paycheck, isn’t it? And that paycheck is putting a roof over your head and allowing you to spend even a little time doing the things you love. Is that really a waste? Most days I’d rather not go to work (because of all the more interesting things I could be doing), but I’m also pretty damn happy to get my paycheck.
What you do with your time is a choice. If you spend 7 hours parked in front of Netflix, that was your decision. So is spending those 7 hours at a workshop or taking an online course, or doing anything else that makes you feel your life is worth it.
Are you choosing consciously or unconsciously? Did you deliberately decide to watch TV for an entire day, or did you just end up there because it was too much effort to do what you really wanted to do? I’ve been there.
If you’re an artist, your time isn’t really being wasted. If you’re not actively developing an idea, you’re stockpiling ideas. That’s why we look at art books and read cheesy novels (and sometimes, when they’re bad enough, throw them against the wall). Sometimes you need to fill your mind with ideas, good or bad, before you can release those ideas into your art.
The bottom line is that eventually you have to do the work. Otherwise, you end up as a writer who doesn’t write or a photographer who stores the camera in the corner under a heap of dirty laundry. Play on Pinterest if you feel the need, but sooner or later you need to pull your head out of the boards and go accomplish something.
Shut off the TV, put down your phone, and create something. Make it amazing, Yes, you. Be sure to tell us about it in the comments.
