Is wasting time a bad thing? What if wasting time is exactly how you maximized your time?

Time is relative. Albert Einstein developed the theory of general relativity in 1915, which disrupted our notion of time. While still controversial, quantum mechanics has arisen as the latest and greatest understanding of space-time. There’s a chance that time does not exist, and it only applies to how we experience simultaneous events. Regardless of how time works from a macro-perspective, from a micro-perspective, our perception of time varies wildly depending on what state our brain is in.

Anders Ericsson’s work on deliberate practice led to the idea of flow, a cognitive state in which time passes differently. When in flow, we lose track of time.

Positive and negative flow

Flow can be positive or negative. Mostly, we read and hear about the good flow, the flow that results in Productivity and creativity. Under these conditions, our flow state makes an hour feel like a minute, and we can write 1,000 words with no distractions instead of 100 words while checking our emails, text messages, and social threads.

But there’s a negative flow, too, which is discussed less often. Negative flow is when we put our head down into our phone, and an hour later, we look up without realizing an hour passed. It didn’t feel like we were scrolling that long, but the clock doesn’t lie. While positive flow results in lost time through productivity, negative flow results in lost time through “distraction.”

Productivity isn’t the goal

I put distraction in quotes because it is easy to argue that the endorphin releases associated with scrolling are not bad outcomes. Productivity seems to exist as this relentless and unachievable goal that western culture perpetuates.

It’s challenging to remain present with a digital world of distractions. With so much demand for our attention, we constantly shift our focus among the past, the present, and the future. We get on the Hedonic Treadmill of past mistakes, current issues, and an uncertain future.

If the flow state is positive, is there a difference between phone scrolling and producing? If we want to exist in the present, might it be okay to spend a few hours decompressing through a phone scroll, movie, or video-game marathon? As long as we are present during these activities and not task-switching, then all is good, right?

Moderation

In reality, endless scrolling and maximizing production are both good and bad. Flow states are great, except when your house is on fire, the baby is crying, or the dog just peed on the couch. Productivity is a hedonic treadmill of its own.

Just because a positive flow state can result in increased productivity doesn’t mean we should attempt to exist in a perpetual flow state. Getting lost in something, where time is meaningless, ultimately results in lost time. Too much of anything is bad. An addiction to exercise is just as harmful as addiction to alcohol. Remaining present and maintaining moderation are the keys to earning more time.

Mindfulness time

Is producing a little more today more important than forgetting to make dinner? According to most self-help literature, the answer is yes. Produce as much as possible, as efficiently as possible, and worry about the rest of your life later. But where’s the balance in that?

After finishing an easy-to-read book called Do Nothing by Celeste Headlee coupled with nine months of reading and writing about practical philosophy, I am reconsidering my stance on productivity as it relates to time. Time is finite. We will run out of it. Relative to our ancient ancestors, who only worked 3-4 hours per day, we have unlimited resources, which means we should do less, not more.

Writing this while in a flow state is great, but only if I’m not missing out on Maia’s zoomies. Very little makes me happier than watching my ten-year-old dog sprint around in little circles on our walks. As a result of a goal to produce at all costs, our relationships with each other, our pets, and ourselves have deteriorated. We have become ever-more productive to reach some goal that once we achieve is never that satisfying. This defines the hedonic treadmill.

Do less

Ryan Holiday has a paid group, which I used to be a member of, called the Daily Stoic Life. One of the benefits of the group is the group challenges. In late 2018, one part of one challenge was to write down your personal epithets: the words and phrases that you live by.

My favorite two epithets are Do Less. Be More and Nothing is THAT important. While I’d like to believe that I’m living by these phrases that I chose to define me, I’m not. Instead, I’m doing a lot more. In the last six months, I’ve started running, writing, and reading more, added more responsibilities to my day job, and accelerated side projects. Am I healthier and more productive? Absolutely. Then why did Do Nothing resonate so much with me, and why did I choose Do Less as one of my defining epithets?

Lost time is dead time

Because I feel like I’m losing time. I’m able to get into a flow state fairly often, which has resulted in more productivity. Increased productivity has led to more writing, more reading, more exercise, and more work. But time is FLYING by. Maia and Maximus are ten. My partner and I have been together for close to six years. I’m only truly present during meditation, which I have scheduled to fit in around everything else.

It’s challenging to argue that a healthier, wealthier, and more productive person, by all objective measures, is doing worse. What’s hidden behind those objective measures of success is the quality of our relationships. Self-determination theory suggests that we crave 1) autonomy, 2) relatedness, and 3) competence. As you can imagine, it’s difficult to maintain high-quality, high-touch relationships when we’re so focused on productivity.

Be selfish, then stop

Without sounding counter-intuitive, it’s important to maintain productivity. We will continue to live in a culture that values productivity, and the benefits of being an active member of the capitalist economy are important. We must be selfish to achieve these things until we don’t. As Ru Paul says at the end of each episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race, “if you can’t love yourself, how the hell you going to love someone else?” This is true. Once we achieve our goals, we must get off the hedonic treadmill and onto the street so that we can stop.

When we’ve taken care of ourselves, only then can we become selfless. We can pay closer attention to the needs of the people closest to us, then those in our communities, then the world. Once we’ve elevated, and we’ve started elevating others, the people we helped can spread it on. Instead of running on a hedonic treadmill, we can run on a pay-it-forward street.