A Waste of Time
"That's a waste of time." We've all heard it, and most of us have said it.
Outside of working together, the phrase carries contempt, disapproval or even disgust at how someone spends their time or lives their life. People who say it often believe they know better. Usually, they don't.
N.B. In business, when you're working towards an outcome, the phrase is perfectly valid. It starts a useful discussion about focusing on the right problem and getting value for the time spent. This post is about unwelcome opinions on how people spend their own time.
For example
- Gaming is a waste of time
- Swimming (or your sport of choice) is a waste of time
- Making music is a waste of time
- Performing arts are a waste of time
- That degree is a waste of time
No, you're not more enlightened
Ask someone who says it what makes something a waste of time, and you'll hear answers like:
- It doesn't produce anything
- You could be doing "better" things with the time
- You're just sitting there
- There's no money in it
All wrong, of course. So where does the mindset come from? Society has a common script: get educated, then get a job. That's it. Anything in early life that doesn't work towards that gets labelled a waste of time.
The joy of chance
To know whether something was a waste of time, you'd have to be an all-knowing deity who could see the start and end of every choice a person makes. I'd argue even that is very tricky, because of the butterfly effect, and because even negative outcomes bring some positives.
Into chaos theory
Every small decision shapes our lives, for better or worse, and we can't know which. So how could anyone know an activity isn't worth the time? Doing what brings us joy is good for us, and it leads to connections, relationships and everything else that makes us human.
- Ryan, a shy, fairly introverted young man, binge-watches a TV show by his favourite director.
- A few weeks later, the show comes up at a work lunch, and Ryan, unusually, joins in.
- Someone else there also loves the show and the director, and a friendship forms.
- Months later, Ryan is invited to his co-worker's (now friend's) barbecue, and gets talking to a girl...
Watching a TV show, the "waste of time", led Ryan to friendships and opportunities he'd never have had otherwise.
In defence of the phrase
There can be some justification. Perhaps the point is that someone spends too much time on one thing. But what counts as too much? I think the simplest test is whether it comes at the expense of everything else, or of things likely worth as much or more. Diminishing returns play a part too. Think of the 80/20 rule.
Sometimes putting most of your time into one thing is the right call. But as a default? The more of the day's 24 hours it takes, the more everything else suffers.
Telling people they're wasting their time is the wrong approach. If you want to help, suggest ways to spread their time a little more evenly.
There's some irony in writing this post. Not knowing where it will lead is exactly why it should exist.