“Men talk of killing time, while time quietly kills them”
Dion Bousicault ( 1820-1890)
Irish-born actor & dramatist
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How could anyone in their right mind want to kill time? To want to kill time, in my opinion, is a confession of imbecility because time is what life is made of. Sometimes, we are at work thinking of what we could do on the weekend. However, when the weekend comes, do you ever find yourself doing nothing? So you wasted productive time at work because you were daydreaming, and now you are wasting free time because you did not plan in advance. You are caught off guard at the last minute.
I have a personal example that happened to my wife and I a few times. We have 3 young children who still need a babysitter when we go out. Sometimes, we had the chance to find a babysitter at the last minute. This was great, but since we had only about 60 to 90 minutes of free time together, our options were limited. By the time we agreed on what we both wanted to do, 20 to 30 minutes had already gone by.
So I asked myself; how can I avoid this kind of situation when our time is so limited and so precious?
Solution: I made a list of dozens of activities that require very little time and that are enjoyable. Since then, we can use these precious minutes in a smarter way.
Exception: Sometimes I choose to relax because I want to, and in this case, it’s not a waste of time.
When we know exactly what we want and what we like, it’s easier to use our time in a smarter way.
Do you often find yourself “killing” precious time ?
36525 days to live 
April 18, 2010 at 7:20 pm
Non pas souvent mais voici quelques exemples ou je n’ai pas totalement le contrôle sur mon temps. Dans la circulation, chez le médecin, en ligne pour payer mon épicerie, une réunion non productive. J’ai apprise avec le temps que nous ne pouvons pas être en contrôle à 100% sur notre temps mais qu’avec une bonne organisation et en étant prévoyant nous pouvons le contrôler à plus de 90% et ce, de façon productive. L’organisation est la clé selon moi et la solution à nous éviter beaucoup de frustrations…
April 19, 2010 at 8:31 pm
Je ne tue pas le temps … je passe du temps … passe du temps à travailler, à m’amuser, à méditer, à apprendre … etc. Chaque chose que je fais à sa raison d’être. Même dans une salle d’attente, je n’attends pas … je vis!!! Quand je suis en attente et je suis sur le bord de pogner les nerfs, je me rappelle toujours …Mona, tu n’attends pas, tu vis … Dans ton exemple avec ta femme, je serais tentée de dire que tu n’as pas perdu du temps, tu as passé du temps avec ta femme à discuter sur ce que vous vouliez faire … pour moi ça revient toujours au moment présent…
April 20, 2010 at 9:51 am
Interesting to put “killing time” and “serenity” back to back.
AS much as I think we have to do the best we can with the time we have (and thanks for the list suggestion, with 2 young kids I can relate), moments of serenity are so precious in time, so “in the moment” that time is “suspended”