“The psychological importance of wasting time,” by Olivia Goldhill

I got this article from a friend the other day, which got me thinking! Of course, I think that was the intent of my friend. Unless, of course, they were just trying to drop me a hint to make me feel better. Because I think I am really great at wasting time, so I’m happy to know there is an Up side!

In short, the article describes benefits from involving yourself in mindless activities such as watching television, taking walks, or simply staring out the window (a favorite of mine). I think that most of us know this. It is simply a matter of making ourselves do it, and then when we do it, not feeling guilty for it.

I think of it like throwing a ball into the air. As we all know, what goes up must come down; however, just before the ball starts traveling downward, it does something that we rarely think about: The ball travels nowhere. For a brief moment in time, the speed of the ball is zero. It is not traveling up and it has not yet begun its descent downward. One could view this brief moment as “dead” or “wasted time.” Although it is a critical time in order for the ball to change its direction.

In our lives, we to need to experience “dead” time to change our direction! You say you don’t need to change direction? I think that’s great, but does it hurt to experience some of that wasted time – just for affirmation sake? How many times have you had someone come up to you and tell you to stop what you are doing and go jump into your recliner? Yea, that’s what I thought, so I will tell you now.

Stop what you are doing and go jump into your recliner!

This also provides me a great set up for next week as I can provide some great insight into how to waste time and do it right! For this I feel, I am an expert!