Which of these time traps is eating up all your time? |

Technology has made many changes in our lives that save us a huge amount of time, yet the same technology takes away the extra time, something known as the autonomy paradox.

Our devices, with their constant notifications, are taxing our cognitive abilities, making our attention and focus divided and distracted, while making us waste our precious time. Add to this the opportunity cost we pay, as we could have easily benefited by doing something healthy or productive in that time.

• We are taught right from the beginning that money is important, and time, not that much.
• The exact amount of money after which it no longer increases happiness is about $60k, according to an extensive global study.
• Money does not provide real joy, and is just an essential utility. Focusing only on how one has to make money is like a dog chasing its own tail.

Money is tangible and easily calculated. One can see how much money they have and figure out the net worth in minutes. Time, on the other hand, is intangible and its value not easily measured. Almost as a reflex action, most of us prefer saving money instead of saving time.

In the long run, the cost saved is negligible but the time wasted becomes humongous.

Many, if not most of us, try to find purpose in our work, pursuing an enjoyable, meaningful career. Factors that tilt the scales towards focusing exclusively on work are financial insecurity, peer pressure and social appearance.

Being busy makes us feel good and confident, and if we do not focus on work, we are afraid we would not be respected by society. This neurotic obsession with work leads to an unhealthy and miserable life in the long run.

The biggest paradox is that while everyone wants to relax, nobody can really relax. People start to feel bored and stressed out when they go on vacation or while during recreational activities. The truth is that we cannot be left alone with our thoughts.
Being always connected with the world, mostly through our smartphones, is:

1. Keeping us out of the present moment.
2. Keeping our stress levels above normal.
3. Not letting the brain recover and come in ‘neutral’ gear.

If we could just be idle and disengage our brains, we would have many physical and mental benefits.

We show optimism towards future time, when we are in a delusion of ‘planning fallacy’, believing we have more time in the future. Our current mindset is a forecast on how we would be doing in the coming days, and if we are busy, stressed out and confused now, that’s how the next few days will look.

We need to be deliberate with our free time, if we want to be really fulfilled and time-affluent.