It breaks my heart when I’ve put so much thought, energy, and hope into something I never have the time to accomplish.
Specifically, I’m talking about growing this blog, starting my online shop, studying, and doing freelance work.
It’s a lot of high-level tasks that need a great amount of persistence and hard work. And most importantly, time.
Time. An intangible asset that everyone possesses, but nobody actually knows how to use properly.
I’ve thought about cutting out some tasks or “simplifying my goals,” as I often preach on this blog. But my heart doesn’t want to let go of anything.
It wants to see things through and give them a fighting chance.
If you’re in a similar situation as me and want to achieve ALL THE THINGS but find yourself staring at an incomplete to-do list, this article is for you.
Here, I’ll share 10 time stealers that are stopping you from achieving what you want. Let’s get started.
Table of Contents
The Top 10 Time Stealers to Avoid
1. Overthinking
It’s funny that the biggest time waster we all face is our own minds.
It’s in our control, yet we spend an inordinate amount of time scrutinizing and second-guessing our choices.
When we overthink, we get stuck in a loop of rumination, repeating the same worries and thoughts without ever moving closer to finding a solution. This results in anxiety, stress, and a lack of productivity.
A typical everyday scenario looks like this:
You know the goals you have mapped out for your life. Sometimes you’ll even feel so inspired that you know exactly how to get the ball rolling. But then you let negativity seep in. “What if I invest so much time and it fails?” “I don’t think I’m good enough to attempt this.” “X person couldn’t do it, so it won’t work for me.”
All this leads to inaction and indecision. You become paralyzed with worry and doubt to the point where you miss opportunities and lose momentum toward your goals.
I’ve faced this many times, which explains why I fail despite having many ambitions and action plans.
And let’s not even get started on the emotional energy drain that all this overthinking causes. We become increasingly worn out the more we overthink an idea or issue, which further lowers our concentration levels, diminishes our drive to get things done and reduces our ability to make good decisions.
One method I’ve used to reduce overthinking is cutting down on my “research time.” So, for example, if I have a new business idea, I will research it for a certain amount of time, like 2 hours, and then move on for the day.
What used to happen before is I didn’t have a limit on my research time. I would research from morning till evening (wasting all that time learning nothing new), only to reach the evening and decide that this idea was not for me.
I wasted time by not working on the things that were truly important to me.
Similarly, you can set simple deadlines for each of your goals. For example, set a goal to study for 1 hour instead of setting a 5-hour study goal for the day and then wasting most of that time overthinking everything.
Taking modest steps toward your goals instead of attempting giant leaps at once helps you take some action instead of procrastinating because it looks too scary.
Another way to overcome overthinking is to sit with your thoughts for a bit. Obviously, these thoughts are coming from somewhere — maybe from your hidden fears, repressed childhood trauma, etc.
Write all your thoughts down in a journal or on a Word document. Facing them and getting them all out is the best way to move past them.
Related Post: 5 Golden Ways to Achieve Your Goals When You Have Zero Motivation
2. The Digital World
It seems like the digital world was created to be addictive.
Social media platforms keep us scrolling by displaying endless streams of content that are catered to our interests. Emails make us feel special by adding our name in the subject line but constantly pinging the entire day. And entertainment is just a teardrop away.
It’s like an algorithm ghost planted a chip in your brain.
We can’t escape.
And so, we spend hours consuming useless content about other people’s amazing lives while forgetting about our own.
If you read my post “What to Do Instead of Going on Social Media,” I shamelessly admitted that I once used my phone for an average of 5 hours a day.
Of those 5 hours, only 30 minutes were spent doing something useful on my phone, like messaging a good friend or reading an insightful article. The other 4.5 hours just sucked up precious hours of my life that I’ll never get back.
Now, after I wrote that post, I did cut down on the time I spend on my phone, even going as far as deactivating Twitter and deleting the Prime video app. And I have seen a massive increase in my focus levels and productivity. It’s not a cure-all solution, but one that you can try.
Set limits for how long you’ll spend on certain apps. Or schedule specific times during the day to check emails and social media.
For students, you can use an app like Freedom which blocks certain websites.
Just imagine, we’re using digital apps from the digital world to help us control our usage of the digital world.
But the truth is that unless you plan to live in the mountains as a monk, you’ll never fully escape the digital world. So, by learning to control how you use it, you can use it for its advantages and prevent it from taking over your life.
You can also consider taking breaks from your devices altogether to give your mind a chance to recharge.
Related Post: How to Successfully Do a Social Media Detox So You Can Feel More Alive
3. Procrastinating
We spend so much time avoiding tasks that need to get done, that we could probably tick off our to-do list 10 times over if we had just gotten on with it.
Of course, it’s easier said than done.
Procrastination comes from deep-seated issues like fear of failure, perfectionism, and lack of motivation. And we need to come to terms with these issues if we want to start taking action.
Most of us procrastinate our important tasks by using pleasurable activities as a decoy. This could be in the form of social media, watching your favorite movie, reading a fiction book, etc.
And often, when the high (cheap dopamine) from these pleasurable activities fades away, we feel guilty and anxious about the tasks we’ve avoided. This not only leads to overwhelm, but it can be draining.
Instead of letting tasks take up valuable mental space by weighing on your mind, it’s easier to just start.
Use James Clear’s 2-minute rule. Before attempting a task, set a limit of 2 minutes to do it. Chances are that once the 2 minutes are up, you’ll want to continue doing the task.
Related Post: How Cheap Dopamine Is Unraveling Your Life: What You Can Do to Stop It
4. Feeling Sorry for Yourself
Just this week, I threw a pity party, complete with screaming, tears of frustration, and shouting at the Universe, blaming it for everything going wrong.
After I calmed down, I realized I sounded like an idiot, and nothing had changed in my life. I wasted more time crying than trying to find a tangible solution to my problems.
Feeling sorry for yourself focuses your attention on your problems and shortcomings rather than on solutions and opportunities. And when you dwell on negative thoughts and feelings, you become stuck in a negative mindset that prevents you from taking action toward your goals.
You’re hit with an onslaught of hopelessness and despair.
Instead of feeling sorry for yourself, practice gratitude by focusing on your tiny blessings and the things that are going well in your life. This can shift your perspective and motivate you to keep moving forward.
5. Perfectionism
I mentioned earlier that one of my goals is to start an online shop. When designing a product, I find it hard to move on from it. I’ll focus on each minuscule detail, ensuring everything is perfect.
And while I want to create a high-quality product, my perfectionistic tendencies aren’t helping me because I change things so often and have to do everything all over again.
In other words, perfectionism is a massive time stealer.
We strive for an unrealistic standard of excellence that can be impossible to achieve. And when we become fixated on perfection, we get stuck in a cycle of endlessly refining and revising our work rather than completing it. This leads to a lack of progress on our projects.
Plus, the pressure to be perfect shoots up your anxiety and stress levels, which doesn’t help productivity.
Therefore, it’s important to focus on progress and growth (no matter how small).
By accepting that perfection is unattainable and focusing on doing our best, we can avoid wasting time and make meaningful progress toward our goals.
6. Doing Too Many Things at Once
Multitasking is a time stealer because it divides our attention and energy, leading to decreased productivity and quality of work. Even my recently updated computer slows down when there are too many tabs and programs open.
And it’s normal to feel brain drain and overwhelmed when juggling too many things at once. It’s difficult to make progress towards any of them because your energy is spread too thin.
In the past, I tried to do all 4 of my high-level tasks (freelancing, blogging, studying, and designing) in one day. I would work in the morning, study in the afternoon, then write and work on my shop. On paper, it looked easy, but it was exhausting, and I didn’t do well at anything.
Because instead of focusing solely on one task, my mind would start thinking about everything else on my to-do list. So, when I was supposed to be working, I would find myself working on my shop or figuring out what to do for the blog.
Now, I’ve decided to prioritize certain tasks for different days of the week, so I can get more done by focusing on just a few things.
Ensure you prioritize your goals and focus on one task at a time, even if it means cutting certain things out of your day.
7. Making Comparisons
Even if you’ve started your day well with a nice mindful morning routine and have your ducks in a row, your positive start can go downhill as soon as you go on Instagram, Twitter, or LinkedIn.
Everyone on there seems to be living a better life than you. And it can make you question your own life even if nothing is wrong with it.
But comparing yourself to others is a waste of precious time because everyone’s journey is different.
When we compare ourselves to others, we’re not considering the unique circumstances and experiences that have led them to where they are. This can lead to feelings of inadequacy and a lack of confidence in our own abilities.
Also, the time and energy spent comparing ourselves to others takes away from the time and energy we could spend on our goals and personal growth.
Therefore, it’s important to focus on your own journey. By setting your own goals and measuring your success based on your progress, you can avoid the trap of comparison and stay focused on your life.
8. Forcing Yourself to Do Something You Don’t Want to Do
Forcing yourself to do something you don’t want to do is counterproductive and drains your energy because you’re not fully engaged in the task.
It can also leave you feeling tired, with nothing left for the things you’re genuinely excited about.
As somebody who is pulled to the world of online business, I often face shiny object syndrome. I’ll start something, and then a few weeks down the line, I realize I hate it. But because I hate giving up, I force myself to do it.
But I’m just hurting myself and my long-term goals because I’m wasting time on something that isn’t bringing me happiness.
We force ourselves to do stuff we don’t want to because we think we’ve invested so much time and energy, and it’ll just go to waste if we give up. But it’s a sunk cost. The time and energy you’ve spent are gone — and you’ll never get them back whether you quit or not.
Instead of forcing yourself to do a task, take a step back and evaluate why you are experiencing resistance. Is it a lack of interest or motivation? Is it fear of failure or something else?
Once we understand the root of our resistance, we can explore strategies to approach the task in a way that feels more manageable and authentic to us.
Some Pinterest inspiration:
“If you have to force it, leave it. Relationships, friendships, yoga poses, perfect ponytails. Let that shit go.”
I’ll add another – goals. Let goals that aren’t making you happy…go.
9. Lack of Planning and Prioritization
Without a clear plan and priorities, you’ll spend time on tasks that aren’t important or don’t contribute to your long-term goals.
For example, I struggle to work on my 4 main goals because they’re all equally important to me. But this leads to multitasking and then overwhelm.
So, I sat down with a journal and forced myself to categorize my high-level goals into order of importance and urgency to me.
Right now, the most important thing is my editing work because I need an income. Second, I want to finish my post-grad studies because I’m getting too old for this. Last, I added my blog and shop. Even though they’re still important to me and play a major role in my creative development, they can wait.
So, try organizing your priorities the same way. Once you know your priorities, you can create a plan that aligns with achieving them.
By establishing a plan of action and prioritizing tasks based on their importance and urgency, you can focus your time and energy on the tasks that will make the biggest impact towards your goals.
Additionally, planning and prioritization can help you manage your time more effectively and avoid the stress and overwhelm that come with a lack of direction and focus.
10. Not Getting Enough Sleep
I know that not everybody needs a full 8 hours of sleep. But I also know it’s impossible to do everything you want within a set timeframe by getting less sleep than your body needs.
For months I operated on 5 hours of sleep. I would sleep at 3 am and wake up at 8. Not only was my mental health in the dumps, but my body felt awful. Almost all bodily functions, from my digestive system to my bladder, stopped working properly.
You need adequate sleep every day to stay healthy and get things done.
I’ve managed to sort my sleep schedule by finishing my tasks early, so I’m not tempted to stay up longer. And I leave the entertainment for the early evening (like 8ish or 9ish). If I put on a movie at 11, there’s no way I’m going to bed early.
Final Thoughts
And there you have it —10 time stealers that are stopping you from living the life you want.
Which is your biggest time stealer, and how are you trying to avoid it? Let me know in the comments!