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Breaking the Cycle of Wasted Time : How to Make Your Free Time Feel Worthwhile
Lost Time Today? Here’s How to Regain Focus and Productivity
Sometimes when I have free time, I really do want to make good use of it. I’ll be sitting there, thinking, “What can I do that’s actually useful right now?” I don’t mean something huge just something meaningful, something that moves me forward even a little. But more often than not, I end up reaching for my phone, opening YouTube, and watching video after video. One video turns into another. And before I know it, a whole hour (or more) has slipped away.
At first, it feels fine. Entertaining, even comforting. But afterwards, there’s this strange emptiness like I missed a chance to do something better with that time. And then comes the thought: “I could’ve done something useful instead.”
It’s frustrating, because the desire to be productive is real. But it turns out wanting to use time wisely and actually doing it are two different things. What I’ve realized is that the problem isn’t laziness it’s a lack of clarity. In the moment, I don’t have a clear plan. I haven’t decided what “using my time well” really looks like. So my brain just chooses the easiest path: open YouTube, scroll, watch, repeat.
