Habits, we all have them. Some of them are great, but let’s be honest, others are not so great uses of our time.
Here are five of the most common time ways and activities with actionable advice to help you reduce or eliminate your time spent on them.
However, before we begin, it is important to understand the distinction between a bad habit and a time-wasting habit.
It’s kind of like how a square is a rectangle, but a rectangle is not a square situation. A bad habit will most likely be time-wasting, but a time-wasting habit is not necessarily bad by its nature.
You want to eradicate bad habits, but reducing the time spent on time-wasting habits is often sufficient.
Additionally, you can never really eliminate a habit once formed. You can only replace it with another. That is why I will be dedicating space in each section to discuss alternative habits that you can replace with the ones I am talking about to maintain a better use of your time.
1. Video Games
Video games are by far one of the most popular (and expensive) time-wasting activities. With the infinite combination of genres and scenarios, there is a video game for everyone, likely several. It is easy to put hundreds and sometimes thousands of hours of your life into a single video game.
1,000 Hours ≈ 41.7 Days ≈ 5.95 Weeks ≈ 1.5 Months ≈ 1/6th of a Year!
I don’t think I need to explain how or why this is a bad use of your time, but just in case, think about how all those hours could have been spent working on your dreams and learning new things.
Rest and relaxation are important and necessary. Don’t think that you should just work and never rest. That is arguably worse than never working in the first place.
I would rather do nothing with my life than live the entire thing burnt out and miserable.
This is where I have major disagreements with many of the other creators in the productivity space. They think putting your nose to the grindstone and working relentlessly is the way to go, but anybody who’s experienced burnout knows that that is not the way to go.
Think about the Old Masters like Leonardo da Vinci. While they certainly did hard work, they didn’t do it by grinding themselves into the pavement. They did it in a state of flow, attaining mastery of themselves and their work, making it look effortless — even though it was not.
Here is their secret: intense work followed by intense rest.
How you choose to rest is up to you, but you must do it regardless.
Full disclaimer: video games are the habit that I have by far the most trouble with. Skyrim has eaten more of my time than I’d like to admit.
This is a prime example of a habit you want to manage your time on but not necessarily completely replace.
Good Habits To Replace Video Gaming With
There are two main habits that I found are great at replacing video games specifically. The first one is exercise, and the second is reading. Both are good habits to have.
Which of these habits you choose to replace or supplement video gaming with is up to personal preference. However, I do have some recommendations for gamers based on the type of games that they play.
If you play a lot of strategy games like Civilization V or one of the many different 4X grand strategy titles from Paradox Interactive, reading is likely your best option. Many people who play these games are looking for an outlet for mental energy and something to think about.
A good book, especially a nonfiction one, can give you A nice scratch for that itch.
If you play more action-based games like first-person shooters, then exercise is the better option. People who play these games often have excess physical energy or aggression.
Exercise, especially weightlifting, can help with both. Weightlifting is one of the best ways to deal with excess aggression.
Put it in the iron, baby!
Finally, if you play more casual-based games like Stardew Valley, you are likely looking for a good way to relax and settle down. In that case, might I recommend a good fictional book?
2. Social Media
Let’s be real: What is a bigger waste of time than mindlessly scrolling on social media? At least video games are using your mind for something.
I bet you can’t even remember one thing from your last scrolling session. If you can, then feel free to skip this section because my advice doesn’t apply to you. You are on another level.
Anyhow, for the rest of us mere mortals, we can easily spend 2–3+ hours scrolling on social media and not even remember a single thing we saw in detail.
The reason for this is pretty simple. The conscious human mind can only process about 40–50 bits of information simultaneously.
That may sound like a lot until you realize the subconscious mind can process 11 million bits of information per second.
So, the reason you don’t remember anything from scrolling on social media is that you’re overwhelming your brain with more information than it can handle.
Do you want “Guy/Gal who watched TikTok and remembered nothing” on your headstone?
I consider mindless social media consumption a bad habit, not just a time-wasting one.
Controversial and negative content does well on social media because of humanity’s negativity bias. It is baked into our psychology, and we can’t help it. However, while many people think that social media helps them relax, It is usually the exact opposite.
So, finding something to replace mindless social media consumption is better.
Mindful Social Media Consumption:
Social media is not all bad. There are positive uses for it. One of those is education. It can be a fair use of time if you tailor your social media algorithm to show you more educational content rather than shock value or memes. Education is seldom a bad thing, in any case.
Yet, you still want to limit the amount of time you spend on the platforms.
Exercise:
You’re going to notice that exercise comes up a lot whenever people discuss replacing habits. It is a default good habit that can replace almost any bad habit. The only bad thing about exercise is that you can do it too much.
As long as you don’t overdo it, exercising has no downside.
Social Interaction:
What’s better than pseudo-socializing on the internet? Socializing in the real world.
Instead of scrolling your Instagram feed, consider getting together with your mates and doing something together. It’ll help you form better relationships and get rid of a bad habit.
Now, this will have to be paired with something else because it is unlikely that you will be able to socialize every time you use Instagram or another social media platform.
Regardless, it can be a good supplement to another activity.
3. Television And YouTube
Television is a classic form of entertainment and time wasting. It is even older than video games and all but one thing on this list. YouTube, on the other hand, (and other video streaming services) Are much younger but equally as bad, if not worse.
However, these are not bad habits. They’re just ones that need to be done in moderation.
Beyond the amount of time you spend watching these forms of media, there’s also the consideration of what the content you’re watching consists of. There is a big difference between ‘reality’ television and documentaries.
The same thing can be said for the difference between memes and educational materials on YouTube.
Believe it or not, one of the best things to replace television and YouTube with is more television and YouTube.
I am going to speak mainly about YouTube because I am more familiar with it and have never really watched much television, but I am sure that it applies to TV as well.
YouTube is a gold mine of educational materials on almost every subject. For example, that is how I learned how to tie a tie, bind a book, and learn more about storytelling than my entire four-year English degree combined.
It is an incredible resource that we are extremely privileged to have access to if we will only use it correctly.
That is why it pains me whenever I see people, especially young folk, who never go beyond content like memes and Mr. Beast.
All television and YouTube stimulate your brain, but you want to stimulate the right parts.
I have said it before, and I will say it again: education is rarely a bad investment.
Here’s a good summary of Atomic Habits, by James Clear. (See, YouTube can be used for education!)
Some additional ways to supplement or replace TV and online video are reading, Pursuing a hobby, or — you guessed it — exercise.
4. Gossiping
More than just a waste of time, gossiping is a straight-up bad habit. There is no reason for you to be doing either of those. Not only does gossiping waste time, but it also damages your relationships and reputation. Nobody likes a gossip monger, not even other gossip mongers.
Do not gossip, period.
However, this is easier said than done. Gossiping is human nature as we are social creatures. We are naturally programmed to pick up any differences between other people and the rest of the group, tribe, herd, or whatever you want to call it.
This played an important role in our survival back in ancient history, but now it’s just a bad habit.
How do you actually replace this, though?
Rather than a specific activity, this is best countered whenever your natural propensity to gossip arises. If other people at work are around the water cooler talking about how weird John Doe is, choose not to engage.
Another example is if you feel the desire to say something negative about a person, say something positive instead. The same thing can be said with thoughts. Consciously deny the negative thought and reinforce a positive one instead.
Now, unfortunately, some people are just bad people or at least have legitimate negative qualities. You do not need to deny the reality of the situation, but it is not healthy to dwell on it.
You also do not need to join a conversation about how terrible a person is — again, not healthy.
You will never entirely eliminate the inclination to gossip, but you can reduce it by quite a bit over time. If you practice denying gossip for a year or two, you will be surprised at how much better your mind feels.
You will also likely be respected more as people will see you as someone above that kind of behavior.
People who don’t gossip are also less subject to gossip. A rumor takes many people to propagate, but if people like and respect you, any rumor will have a much harder time taking hold.
We also don’t create rumors about people we like. So, if you are well respected and liked, fewer rumors will be created about you, and they will have a harder time spreading.
That sounds like a win-win to me.
5. Adult Entertainment Services
This one is either a bad habit or very close to one; it depends on who you ask. I personally see it as something that should be avoided. I see no positive uses for adult entertainment. Any suggested uses can be easily obtained from less harmful sources.
Real human interactions and relationships are the best way to replace this habit by far. However, I understand we don’t all have the luxury of that option, so here are some alternatives that also work well.
Art:
Artwork, and not just the spicy variety, can help Channel some of that unwanted sexual energy into a more positive direction. Art is inherently connected with the creation process and can give you some alleviation from those pressures.
While I am primarily a writer, I do a lot in the art space as well. I find it particularly interesting that creating visual art can be useful in harnessing some of that energy, but writing isn’t that useful.
While I don’t have a solid answer for this, I believe it has something to do with the primal nature of images. Text is an entirely human construct, but images exist everywhere in nature.
That means our evolutionary ancestors have had much longer to embed image-based triggers into our evolution than text.
Exercise:
Another extremely primal activity is the physical act of movement. Exercise will almost always satisfy that part of your brain. Sexuality is inherently linked with vitality. What is more vital than exercise? In fact, reproduction and exercise are the best two examples of vitality.
Get moving to get it moving, if you will.
Wrap Up
While there are many more time-wasting activities, we do not want this list to go on forever. If you work on the five main points in this article, your life will improve. Remember, moderation is key.
You need to find a balance between work and play to be successful and live your life to the fullest.
“Perfectly balanced, as all things should be.” — Thanos
As always, pace towards perfection.