For the sake of your happiness and productivity, it’s tempting to try to squeeze every second of distraction and leisure out of your days. But a better approach is to manage your time in accordance with your priorities by distinguishing between the activities you actually like and those you don’t—and then ridding yourself of the latter. Here are two ways to get started.
Schedule your downtime. Time blocking doesn’t have to be limited to your work calendar. Block everything, including hobbies, leisure, and even daydreaming. For example, you might write “Goof off” on your planner from 1:30 to 2 PM tomorrow. Since goofing off is no longer an uninvited guest in your schedule, it doesn’t throw off your rhythm, and your odds of being back to work at 2 PM rise dramatically.
Put a price on your bad habits. Think of your income in terms of an hourly wage, and assign a corresponding monetary value to the time you spend on other activities. If you consume the average amount of social media in the U.S. (about 142 minutes per day) and earn the average hourly wage (about $29.92), you’re effectively “spending” about $71 worth of time per day on this activity. When you feel the cost of your bad habits, you’re less likely to waste your time.
Make it a great day!