Where Does Your Time Actually Go?

Where does your time actually go? Do you spend it in conversation with friends or family? Are you spending it learning something new? Maybe cooking or sewing or practicing a new language. Or maybe you’ve decided to go back to school or travel abroad for a few months. There are infinite ways to spend time. Yet we choose to spend so much of it online.

We’ve been taught—often without even realizing it—to be self-conscious and to feel incomplete, always wanting something we don’t have. That makeup look, a smaller waist, those jeans, that top because that’s what’s “cool,” “what everyone has.”

How is it that conformity has become a golden status? How can individuality exist when you’re constantly pushed, pulled, and molded into believing you need to fit in? How ironic that the internet, which was supposed to widen our communication, has driven us further apart.

Consumption of social media is an addictive behavior. It activates the brain’s reward system, releasing dopamine in response to likes and comments, creating a cycle of immediate gratification. Over time, this makes it harder to step away or even sit in silence for more than a moment. The reward system gets fried, and the mind doesn’t know what to do with stillness.

No wonder so many people feel like shit.

This personality we’ve accidentally adopted is a customer—someone willing to waste time and money in exchange for (hopefully) a bit of social praise. It seems so simple, yet as a society we struggle to accept this truth: inner acceptance does not come from likes, comments, or material things. It starts with getting to know ourselves and asking who we are and what we actually want.

I am 100% guilty of consumerism and social media. It’s hard not to be today when products and profiles are fighting for our attention at all hours of the day. But, I have been working to invest in myself more by doing things that bring me to the present moment.

Yoga

I started going to yoga about a year ago, and I loved it immediately. There are so many variations—from weighted to restorative to power flows. It’s physically challenging, but it also forces you to slow down and sit in stillness during shavasana, which is something I definitely needed practice with.

I’m really lucky that my company brings in an instructor on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so I get to take class with my work friends. It’s one of the things that genuinely makes me look forward to going to work.

Yoga studio memberships can be pricey, so if you’re interested and on a budget, I recommend checking out Yoga With Adriene on YouTube.

Baking 

Baking is a focus-driven activity with one of the best outcomes imaginable—a warm dessert. Especially around the holidays, I have so much fun making festive recipes to share with others. Plus, baked goods make great gifts for loved ones. Once you get started, you’ll slowly but surely build your ingredient base. A good place to start is with the basics: flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, vanilla, eggs, milk, cocoa powder, chocolate chips, and butter. With just these ingredients, you can make cookies, brownies, cakes, cupcakes, pancakes, waffles, scones, and so much more.

Here are some recipes I’ve made recently (If I can do it, you can do it).

www.delish.com

Pumpkin Pie Has NOTHING On My Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars

Pumpkin, meet cheesecake.

www.ambitiouskitchen.com

The Best Cinnamon Rolls You'll Ever Eat

The best cinnamon rolls in the WORLD! Big, fluffy, soft & delicious. You'll never go back to another cinnamon roll recipe after these!

chocolatecoveredkatie.com

Almond Flour Banana Bread - NO Sugar Required!

This paleo and gluten free almond flour banana bread recipe is low carb and perfect for a healthy snack or breakfast!

somethingnutritiousblog.com

Almond Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies - Something Nutritious

Almond flour chocolate chip cookies are a delicious sweet treat to bake that are naturally gluten & dairy free.

Tasks you’ve been putting off

This one is simple. You know that thing you were supposed to do a while ago but still haven’t gotten around to. The longer you put it off, the less you want to do it? Yeah… it’s probably time to just do that thing, whatever it is.

I moved to a new city a year ago, and I only just made the doctor’s appointments I’d been avoiding. I don’t like going, but at least now I won’t wake up in the middle of the night remembering that I still need to schedule this appointment and that appointment.

Time Limits

Screen-Time Limits This can actually be effective—if you want it to be. Setting it yourself and knowing the password is… questionable at best. It’s way too easy to bypass, especially when you’re bored and have nothing else planned. So have a friend set the bypass password for you, that way you truly can’t hack it. Then go outside, you freak.

Walks

Speaking of going outside, go on a walk. Walk wherever you want with whoever you want. Hell, leave your phone at home and listen to the lovely sounds of nature. This can be harder in the winter, but if you’re up for it, bundle up and embrace the chilly weather. And if that fails, a treadmill is better than nothing.

Calling a Friend

Yes, this does involve using your phone, but the benefits of ringing up an old friend or your sweet grandma outweigh scrolling on TikTok tenfold. My best friends live hundreds of miles away, and I genuinely look forward to calling or FaceTiming them to hear about their week. This is also a great chance to reach out to someone you miss or haven’t spoken to in a while. A call can make someone’s day.

Little steps go a long way, and I’m going to keep trying new things and prioritizing my time in 2026. I hope my amateur, slightly chaotic advice helps you along the way. (: