What a waste of time social media can be

Ephesians 5:11 Don’t waste your time on useless work, mere busywork, the barren pursuits of darkness. Expose these things for the sham they are.
My wife would label me as a procrastinator. And unfortunately, I can’t deny it. I remember growing up in the 70’s and 80’s. Before this wave of video games, internet and cell phones. When kids were actually kids, got their faces buried in mud due to the constant wiping out on our bikes. Trying tricks every day. Not trying to get as many “likes” as we could. Not caring about what people thought about us all that much.
Not always having the latest and greatest. Since we had our particular circle of friends, most of us were in the same budget category. So comparing our possessions was useless since we borrowed nearly everything from our friends anyway (with the exception of underwear). We’d get so muddied in close by rivers and mud pits, that when we got inside, our mothers would lend us or our friend’s pants and shirts to not dirty the cars. And the next time we would visit, we’d get our clothes back.
Then came the teen years, still productive, working for our parents around the house. Things just got done, and there was no lack of physical activity. It was all physical, from house chores to outdoor sports to high school sports. None of this typing stuff like I’m doing right now behind my keyboard, thinking I’m actually productive.
Then my 20’s. Working for my dad in his excavating business anywhere from 8 – 16 hrs a day. Depending on the weather and the job. And I still went to the gym some days after gruelling days under the sun. Mom worked at home and got supper ready since we were done at the end of the day.
Then my 30’s and creeping in my 40’s. I have NEVER been so unproductive. My wife calls it lazy, and she’s not wrong. The introduction of the internet, Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Youtube…smartphones, hockey, 300 channels on tv, and the list goes on and on and on. There are a ton of apps and social media applications that I’m not mentioning.
The verse above has never been truer than in today’s age. Men worked for a living, got home, and took care of their household. Women took care of their houses and when the day was done, mostly everything of that day was accomplished. Unlike today, we’re busier than ever, and accomplish nearly nothing.
Men are becoming more and more lazy, and women are becoming more and more complacent. I can’t point the finger at my wife, she’s much, much more organized and active than I am. What’s the solution for all this? I don’t have one. We can’t live without some of the tools we have now. We all work to the point that we can’t go pay bills in town, so it’s either pre-authorized debit, or online banking. Fast food restaurants are no longer filling their chairs, so now we have drive thru’s since we’re too rushed for that too.
But in all of this, do we actually have a quality life? I can’t say we do. Maybe if we slowed down, and smelled the roses from time to time and actually left our phones at home, maybe, just maybe we would enjoy the creation God has given us. How often do I go to the gym, and see people on their phones instead of lifting weights or actually being productive there.
I went tonight, with my headphones, no phone, and actually got a better workout within 30 minutes, than most of my 1.5 hour work outs I did in the past. Why? Focus. I knew I had a time limit, so I focused.
Which is why we should focus on whatever our tasks are in our daily life. I’m working on putting myself on a to do list. I’m not going to bore you with the specifics of it, just that if your life is going into a pointless whirlwind of useless time wasting, I suggest taking a step back, and looking at what you do in the run of a day. I once looked back, at 11pm in the evening, that I spent 5 hrs on youtube. Watching things like the Xfactor. Was my life better after that? Absolutely not. So for myself, what did I have to do, limit myself to 30 minutes and really exercise discipline to get out from in front of this screen.
While there is no specific gospel message in this particular article, there is a wakeup call. Facebook won’t miss you if you’re off for a week. While TV can be something entertaining, life will go on if you don’t watch it for a couple of days.
As far as I am concerned, I plan on doing much more around the house (did you know that 15 minutes per day can erase a full day of cleaning once a week?) We’re not slobs by any stretch, but when one of us has a day off, we can actually enjoy the day off instead of cleaning.
Hopefully this article will strike a chord for you like it did for me. It’s Sunday night, and I don’t plan on doing much more than reading and studying tonight, but tomorrow, I plan on spending less than 30 minutes on my pc unless it’s work.

Here’s an interesting read.

https://theundercoverrecruiter.com/infographic-how-much-time-do-you-waste-social-networks/