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Time is one of the most valuable resources we have and one of the most beautiful gifts we can give to others. We cannot manufacture it, buy it, nor recover the part we have already lost. Precisely for this reason, we must learn to value time as it deserves, and an interesting measure to achieve this is to avoid time thieves.
The identity of these thieves is made up of all those activities that consume a lot of time but actually add nothing. Unfortunately, although they were less common in the past, they are now increasingly present. The problem arises because the mind is not prepared to fight them constantly, and it is very easy to fall prey to their clutches.
If we want to live a full life, it is essential to identify these time thieves in order to somehow fight them or at least avoid or limit them. Next, we’ll reveal the identity of the most common time thieves, and why they’re so dangerous.
Are Time Robbers Too Dangerous?
The following activities are considered normal by the vast majority of the population. Perhaps, as you read them, you think it’s an exaggeration to classify them as time thieves, but precisely because of their secrecy and silent performance, they are so dangerous. They take up a large part of our lives, but we are barely aware of it.
It’s also critical to remember that they don’t add anything or allow us to move toward our goals.
1- Browse social networks
Who has never felt that they lost track of time when opening Facebook or Twitter? Social media addiction is becoming a common problem in developed societies. We spend more and more hours of the day connected to the Internet, looking at the cell phone screen instead of looking at the world around us.
The main problem is that browsing social media steals our energy to do everything else. According to some studies, spending too much time on these pages has a direct effect on some areas of the brain. This is the case, for example, of the ventral tegmental area (VTA), one of those responsible for motivation and mood.
Thus, the excess of information and stimulation of social networks makes us less sensitive to other positive stimuli. The more time we spend browsing Facebook, Instagram or Twitter, the more difficult it is for us to feel motivated by real-life activities or events.
2- Watch television series
Have you ever joined Netflix with the idea of watching just one chapter of a series, and that little time turned into hours? This is the main danger of one of the most common time thieves of our time, the television series.
It’s very difficult to control yourself not to consume chapter after chapter of an addictive story. For the brain, it is very difficult to control the bombardment of stimuli that surrounds us today. That’s why, even in the case of watching more than one or two chapters, our energy decreases.
3- Worrying excessively
The last of the time thieves we’ll see isn’t related to technology, but to the mind itself. However, he is one of the most dangerous. By thinking too much about problems, we can only increase our anxiety and feel bad about ourselves. In the meantime, the tasks we must do will remain abandoned.
A huge worry can push us into procrastination. This happens due to a phenomenon called “paralysis by analysis”. Faced with a problem that we don’t know how to face, we spend so much time thinking about possible solutions that we end up doing nothing.
For this reason, worrying for hours and hours is never an effective strategy for solving a problem. The next time you find yourself falling into this thief of time, try to take action, even if you don’t know all the answers, or break the vicious circle of thinking by paying attention to other matters.
What to do in front of these time thieves?
As we can see, the negative effects of these three activities are very similar: loss of motivation, willpower and sense of time. Fortunately, however, the solution is also very simple.
If you want, you can fight the worst consequences of these time thieves. The best measure is to limit the time you spend doing each of these activities. To do this, simply set an alarm clock that lets you know when a certain period of time has passed, after which you should stop dedicating yourself to them. This period is determined by you: the appropriate thing is that they do not affect your entire day.
Watching series or immersing yourself in social networks in a controlled and programmed way is not bad. The problem arises when these activities cause us to be late for appointments, disconnect from conversations, or reduce productivity. On the other hand, let us remember that anxiety is a trigger for this type of activity, as is raiding the fridge.
So when you’re really anxious about a problem, instead of getting carried away by it, wait until you get to the “worry time of the day.” By doing this, you will find that these very negative emotions interfere less with your everyday tasks.
