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February 18, 2013

Time Well Spent

Procrastination may as well be my middle name.  My mom tried SO HARD when I was growing up to ensure that I wouldn’t be a procrastinator and leave everything I did until the last minute.  Sadly, even with all of her efforts, procrastination crept in.  It didn’t help that when I was in 9th grade and left a HUGE biology research project to the last minute that I still managed to turn it in the day it was due (the day after I finished it) and ended up being one of two people out of all the 9th grade bio classes who made a 100 on the project.  Yes, you read that right.  I got a 100, A+ on that thing!  It’s also mounted and framed and hanging in our house.  Just kidding.  So what did that teach me about waiting until the last minute?  That’s it’s totally possible!  Bad, bad lesson.

I’ve tried so many things to get myself to grow out of this bad habit as I’ve gotten older.  And sadly, it’s like it’s part of my DNA.  I can’t shake it!  There are some areas that I’ve gotten better though.  And that came with finding something that I love and am passionate about.  And the fact that I get to do it every day is amazing!  So, that’s helped me fight this procrastination problem a bit.  But what I’m realizing is that I’m just not spending my time well!  I’m sure I’m the only one that does this, but it’s like when I wait until the last minute to gather my things together before I have to be somewhere… in 10 minutes.  That’s definitely not time well spent.

I’m also HORRIBLE with getting out of bed in the mornings.  It probably doesn’t help that it’s so cold outside right now and the bed is so nice and warm!  Plus, I just love sleep (yes, we did take a 3+ hour nap yesterday) and with both of us being night owls, we usually don’t go to bed as early as we need to.

But, what I’ve noticed as THE number one time killer in the mornings for me is Facebook.  When I’m finally awake enough to turn off my alarm and roll over to see what time it is, I pick up my phone, check my email and then check Facebook.  30 minutes (or more!) later, I’m still in bed, still catching up on what people have been doing for the last 7 hours while I’ve been sleeping.  And it’s not that I don’t enjoy catching up with the people I’m connected with… clearly, if I’m spending that much time on Facebook in the morning, then I enjoy it.  But wow.  It’s almost embarrassing to admit!  My phone also has the tendency to drag my attention away from the people I’m with – whether it’s at church or eating out or wherever.  And the bottom line is that I just don’t like it.

This has gotten better over time as I’ve turned my phone to vibrate and stuck it in my bag so that it’s not even close to me as we’re eating or hanging out.  And that’s been great.  But it’s the times that I’m waiting for someone or something that I find myself on Facebook.  Again, there’s nothing wrong with hopping on for a minute or two when there’s time, but if I’m at church waiting on the service to start and Ben is serving outside on the perimeter team, then I want to be meeting and talking with people.  Not sitting in a pew with my head bowed… and looking at my phone.

So, while I’ve seen others post about this, I decided to take the leap myself yesterday.  I deleted Facebook from my phone.  Yep, gone.  Just like that.  Now, I can only check Facebook from the computer or iPad.  And I must say, in less than 24 hours, I can already tell a difference.  And I really like where it’s heading.

It’s helping me be more intentional with conversation, it’s helping me look around (instead of down) more, and it gives me more of a chance to people watch when I’m out and about :-)

I definitely don’t want to miss views like this because I was looking down at my phone!

So, what do you do to ensure that your time is well spent?  It may not be as drastic as deleting apps from your phone, but I’d love to hear what others have done to be more intentional with their time!

  1. christine says:

    thanks for posting this!…. i took the time and cut out a lot of apps on my phone this morning…. such a difference!

  2. Kristin Couch says:

    Sabrina! This was such a great post and a wonderful move! I defintely need to take action and do the same! I am alos guilty of waking up and automatically reaching for my phone to check email, facebook, and Instagram!! The part about looking up (especially at church) is such a true statement! We all need to do more of that especially when there are new ppl coming each Sunday. Have a wonderful day!

    -Kristin

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