the gift. time.

Have you ever gone through your schedule (past) and tried to figure out how much time you wasted? Wasted being defining  as time you spent commuting more than 15 minutes to work, movies(more than one a week), TV, useless internet surfing, texting, sleeping (napping, when the rest of the world is productive, basically not at the usual sleeping time), etc. 

I did, this weekend. I figured out, just at one job that I have had for 6 years and worked about 3100 hours I have spent approximately 775 hours in my car going to and from work. That is a lot of time! An extra 1/4 of the hours I worked I spent in commuting to the job itself. There is a lot I could have done with that time. This is only the wasted time commuting to one job. I have spent many hours watching the Friend's series(all 10 seasons), Reba(four seasons), Mash(one season), Ugly Betty(one season), Gilmore Girls(two seasons), Three's Company(two seasons), Bewitched (one season), plus many, many movies. (All my TV watching is recorded. I do not have cable TV so it can be viewed when I choose). There is no way for me to count all those hours. My guess is that a low estimate is about 3000 hours over the last six years. 

That is almost as many hours I have worked at that one job. 

The next time you turn on the TV, get in your car for the one-hour commute, or what ever you find in your world that promotes wasting time think about your goals and dreams and what that bit of time could do for your and your your families' future and relationships. How can you harness that chunk of time and actually use it for your betterment? Either move closer to work or find a new job closer to home. Get rid of your cable TV, and read more. Turn off your computer when you find yourself on the internet "for something to do". 

*Please note: I do see that there is a need to "waste time" every now and again, a movie night once every two weeks to get away from the stresses of this world,  but it is the regular time wasting that can be corralled and used for the good of all those in your life. Have fun coming up with ways to use your time successfully and find more creative ways to relax.

What are you going to do to spend your time more wisely, from this moment forward?