Is There Even Such a Thing As 'Wasting Time'?

I finished watching the movie ‘All the Small Things’ on Amazon Prime starring Cillian Murphy. My first thought afterwards was, ‘well that was a waste of time’. Just to note, this is not at all a bad movie, it just wasn’t for me. I’m not into ‘arty’ films, I like clear answers (science brain here), not things that are unsaid or left to interpretation – I’m not smart enough for that. The trailer made it seem way more action packed than it actually was.

This made me think, what does it mean to 'waste' time. Time isn’t something that I physically have or can control, so is it even possible to waste it? Even if I hadn’t spent that 1 hr 40 minutes watching the movie, the time would have passed either way. Why do we feel so compelled to constantly use every moment or every day to be productive or do something enjoyable? I think has to do with algorithms and how we’re fed from a silver platter movies, songs, YouTube videos and products that are specifically for us. So much so, that we barely have to flick through channels anymore to find something to watch, there are a list of TV shows already set out for you by Amazon Prime or Netflix, with a high chance that you may even enjoy them. The thinking is done for you. That doesn’t mean they’re perfect, but it has made us less tolerant when we watch something we don't like, it's almost like ergh...how dare they.

Back to this movie. So, from the get go, it is slow. Very slow. So slow, that I picked up my crochet just to have something to do. I thought things would pick up over time, but it really doesn’t, but that’s exactly what the movie is meant to be. It’s meant to be emotional, reflective, with Cillian Murphy staring at the camera with a remorseful face the whole time like he did in Oppenheimer (and does it very well). This leads on to attention span, or day I say, the lack of one. I don’t know about you but my attention span is next to nothing now. I feel like a TV show or movie needs to be all action for me to stay watching, otherwise, there are a million others ones I can flick to within a few clicks - so why should I ‘waste my time’ with this one?

Thinking back to when I was a kid, I definitely didn’t think this way. I had DVDs, VHS tapes, and good old satellite TV. I could only watch what was available to me, and, if it was on TV, I could either stick it out, or, turn it off. Normally, I just stuck with it and seen where it goes, but I couldn't as easily choose something else. Isn’t it great to just stick through ‘bad movies’ from time to time, to atleast teach you about patience and broaden your horizons? Otherwise, you’re just watching the same movies over and over, as that’s all the algorithm’s going to feed you. You’ll never expand out that way, and that’s exactly what ‘tailored’ media is doing to us - making us so one-dimensional. I’ve caught myself doing it - searching for ‘movies like <insert one I liked here>’ because I just want that certainty that it'll be a great moive. But do I always want that? Must every movie I watch have to blow me away? What happened to just mediocre, or something to pass the time rather than waste it?

I’m on a long journey with this 'pull in all directions from the million things I could be doing' thing, and that makes every day so exhausting is this hyper productive world. As I’m currently battling the flu, I have still been thinking to myself, I have to nap for x amount of time to feel better asap, or I have to drink and eat so and so. This is not that went through my head growing up when hustle culture wasn’t as big of a thing, and people could just…well…exist. If I got ill, I just rode it out. I did what I felt like doing at the time, for no specific time frame and eventually got better.

Hustle culture and the need to use time ‘wisely’ is making us sick. There will always be a million and one things to do. Cleaning, chores, life admin, seeing your friend, writing that birthday card, getting your car fixed, starting that side hustle, repotting that plant and on and on and on. Hustle culture has made our to-do list infinite. It’s made us think that even watching a movie has to be ‘productive’ and ‘worth our time’.

Yesterday, I watched an incredible movie called ‘Level 16’ on Amazon Prime. I thought ‘that was a great use of my time’ purely because I enjoyed it. However, there I was, umming and ahhing, before clicking on it, as it sounded like it was more horror than thriller and I HATE scary movies. As I was scrolling and scrolling watching more and more trailers, my tea and carefully prepared snacks slowly turning cold, I thought to myself ‘just click on something! and I just clicked on that one. I told myself, I’m chosen this one now and I’m just going to watch it. And thank goodness I did!

We’ve all had that moment of scrolling forever through Netflix of Prime to find that ‘perfect’ series or movie so we don’t ‘waste our time’ - but we can’t see that that scrolling and decision making is what’s more likely to be classed as ‘wasting time’ than just choosing something. We’re so scared that we’ll pick something that's not the best series ever, and if it doesn’t grab us within the first scene then we switch to something else. However, the best TV series I know of are those that after a few episodes, you really start to know the characters and only then you can’t stop. That will always take time.

What I’m trying to say is, time can’t be wasted. Just pick any old movie, book, podcast, song, TV show and just give it a go. If you don’t like it, well hey, atleast you know what you don’t like and you tried something new. I don’t mean search this out, but just be ok that sometimes your time won’t be productive and there’s literally nothing wrong with that. You’re a human being, not human doing.