What do you constitute as wasted time? do you think learning non-financially beneficial discipline is a waste of time?

[Drvladivostok]

From self-help video to parental lecture we've been taught to not waste our precious moments, to always do at least something productive, to never get into NEET degeneracy, so we don't find ourself to be a loser at 40, but what does that mean exactly? if we define it as a period of time in which we're not making financial investments consciously than that would be a very arbitrary definition, if you want to study Law like dogs to get 4.0 GPA then not practice law and therefore turn your studies to the waste of investments does that mean the time you took to study law retroactively turned as wasted times? Then doing anything for leisure is a wasted time, unless your construction is that a leisure is done in order to improve your productivity.

If wasted time is just a time we're not enjoying than that would be even a worse definition, we'd found a CEO as wasting his time and drug addicts as not, so what exactly is the precise definition? My (current) definition of wasted time is a period of time that a) You're being counterproductive to your own well being and others, it should be emphasized that productivity is different from financial gains, and net productivity should alao be distinguished from sustainable productivity. Productivity itself is bassically long tern investment of not only material security but emotional, social, and intellectual growth in the long run, there has to be a line between a NEET and an overworked lawyer throwing him/herself of an office building.

My situation is that I'm teaching myself how to play the Piano, I'm fairly enjoying it, the reason I have time to do so in the hectic schedule of Law School is that I'm on a between semester vacation, most my friends utilize this time by improving their CV, getting internship in various law firm, going to workshops, typical Te users, now most my friends are saying I'm wasting my time by practicing something that I won't make a financial gain in the future, seeing how I just started, I doubt I even would make a cent playing the Piano, but this argument is entirely bollocks, financial pursuit is not an ends as much as it is a means to gain a better life, I know for a fact that an intership in a law form would entail crazy amount of demands on the clock (On my first day of my second intership I was asked to sleep in the office to finish up the paperwork), but I have a hard time gagueing the level of sacrifices and opportunity cost needed to gain optimal productivity level for me.

So what do you think? My families are all Ti users and pretty Laissez faire, so I need some objective judgement. Is learning a non-financially beneficial hobby worth the possible sacrifice of possible future financial investment?

I'd definitely enjoy the piano and definitely not enjoy the Law Firm job (Until I get paid). I'm learning my first Bach piece and Burgmuller, and It's very enjoyable, before you ask it would be impossible for me to engage in this new hobby if I take the Law Firm Internship. I get to the office 6 in the morning and sometimes doesn't go home until 11 at night.

 

[Puffy]

Life’s not just about money or even productivity. Not all activities are money generating. I cook and that doesn't earn me money. I practice yoga and that doesn't make me money. I perform on the street with friends and that doesn't make me money. But I get other kinds of benefit, whether health, social, fun, etc.

In a way, for me having money is about buying my time back to do the things I want. I've leveraged myself into a place where I have a good lifestyle on a part-time salary. That's liberation because I've won back 4 days per week of my life from the economic system. To me using all your time working just to have more numbers in the account and no time to use it is a waste of time.

Regardless, it’s reasonable even in full-time working to expect that you get to have leisure time, which you can spend as you enjoy. For example, my boss is a director of a company, has a family, and still talks passionately about playing guitar as a hobby. If a director of a company, who is also a Dad, has time to play guitar for fun then I don't see why a young adult can't have time to play piano. If they don't then that feels indicative of disproportionate work life-balance.

 

[dr froyd]

i personally like to do things that in the end somehow comprise a connected whole, and a consistent story. But these connections can be abstract or even counterintutive.

for example, i've painted a bit as a hobby. My profession definitely has nothing to do with painting - it's all math, computers, and financial markets. But.. I've noticed that painting/drawing improves the ability to visualize things in your brain, which has a connection to math because math often revolves around visualizing things in your brain. I'm sure music has massive benefits in terms of mental ability too.

even watching a movie can sometimes be productive if it gives you inspiration somehow.

i do think there are things that are outright waste of time though, for example watching random videos on youtube.. or watching sports (unless one does the sport oneself and can learn something from watching it).

 

[EndogenousRebel]

If you wanna talk game theory, there are plenty of reasons a rational agent would do something like learn piano, even if they aren't yielding monetary gains. To say otherwise is to assume that monetary gains are the only thing of value, on top assuming that learning piano in no way possible can assist you in monetary pursuits.

The cunt above me for example is right to say that his painting helps him with math.

Your unique approach and experience to life enables to look at problems differently and do certain tasks easier. I think the only rule of thumb that is applied here is that whatever you do, it has to be something that sustains your active attention.

We have a general attention at the beginning of the day, as we use it, the appetite of our attention has tendencies to stray towards other specific things. If you can keep your attention focused most of the day I think that you are pretty much as close to the edge of optimal performance most can practically be at.

 

[birdsnestfern]

Piano is really good way to express yourself, any art that helps you express your feelings is very good.

Don't do things because you have to, ie, shift thought to because you desire to. Be
Passionate about it.

 

[Hadoblado]

What do you want the shape of your life to look like, and what is the floor and ceiling of productivity you need to get there?

Money is not the purpose of life, but people without money suffer reduced agency.

 

[Thurlor]

The question assumes that there exists an imperative to do something with our lives. I'm not sure that such is the case. Just another example of people trying to derive an aught from an is.

 

[ohshtt]

another argument could be made that making an excess of money substantially more than is needed to fund your mode of lifestyle is a waste of time. Puffy has the right idea.

time well-spent is time used with conscious & considered purpose.

 

[JUN]

O salty sea, so much of whose salt
Is Portugal’s tears! All the mothers
Who had to weep for us to cross you!
All the sons who prayed in vain!
All the brides-to-be who never
Married for you to be ours, O sea!

Was it worth doing? Everything’s worth doing
If the soul of the doer isn’t small.
Whoever would go beyond the Cape
Must go beyond sorrow.
God placed danger and the abyss in the sea,
But he also made it heaven’s mirror.
_________________________________________________
by Fernando Pessoa

 

[onesteptwostep]

O salty sea, so much of whose salt
Is Portugal’s tears! All the mothers
Who had to weep for us to cross you!
All the sons who prayed in vain!
All the brides-to-be who never
Married for you to be ours, O sea!

Was it worth doing? Everything’s worth doing
If the soul of the doer isn’t small.
Whoever would go beyond the Cape
Must go beyond sorrow.
God placed danger and the abyss in the sea,
But he also made it heaven’s mirror.
_________________________________________________
by Fernando Pessoa

How that poem ends is magnificent.


Ah the first thing that popped into my mind when I read this thread was: then, is analyzing what wasted time is a waste of time, in itself?

If you go meta with this question it seems to be a matter of orientation, rather than a sincere contemplation. Like, I'm sure there will be a time in your life when you think anything that you do is wasted time. I mean, think of it from the view point of your deathbed: were your struggles a waste? What did money or a sense of accomplishment really provide for me?

Your life is a story- I think you should weave it the best you can. Stories of joy, accomplishment, nihilism, absurdism, love, growth, happiness, sacrifice, the up, downs, the details and the smiles. I think tribulations make for a fine tale.

 

[OsirionKeep]

You're allowing others to dictate what activities constitute meaning. Meaning is self-ascribed by an outcome we wish to achieve but with the cognitive flexibility humans possess are outcomes exceed that of subsistence.

Everyone has activities that do not yield an economic ROI and some allocate time to those that do.

I consider wasted time to not be cognizant of the time you spend on an activity, which is precisely what it is because you were not cognizant of the time you spent; therefore, it is wasted.

I am aware that you have posted this in a philosophy section and I have used minimal language to express my point but that is purposeful. There is no scalar that matches time spent with meaning accrued, unfortunately we are not a CPU with simple metrics.