The GoalTribe Blog

Standing in line bored out of your mind is a huge waste of your precious time on Earth. It’s one of the least efficient features of modern life, one that I think we’ll eventually do away with. But it’s only a waste if you stand their bored. In reality, it’s a precious gift of time during which you can do something profound… something deep and meaningful… something that can even blow your mind. Here are 6 ways to make your time standing in line into something profound:

6 Ways to Blow your Mind when you’re Stuck in Line

1. Become Joyful: Research in the new field of positive psychology has clearly established that your happiness has very little to do with the conditions of your life. Right now, somewhere there is someone in worse health with less money than you, standing in a long line under a blistering sun – and they’re happier than you are! They’re joyful simply because they have better mental habits than you. Standing in line is a perfect opportunity to practice being happy for no reason at all. Spend the time counting your blessings. What’s great about your life? What are you looking forward too? What are some of your best memories? Who do you love? What are you proud of? How do those thoughts make you feel?

2. Expand Your Mind: One of the profound things about being human is our capacity to keep learning. And there are oceans of mind-blowing things to study about this great, big, beautiful universe we live in. I frequently keep a small book in the car that I can slip in my back pocket to pull out if I’m stuck standing somewhere with nothing to do. Read up on the subjects that fascinate you. Read mind-expanding books on science, philosophy or spirituality. Read personal development books. Read the classics. Read executive summaries of books. (More ideas at 5 Ways to Learn on the Go)

3. Meditate: There are many ways to meditate. One way that can be done in line is: Take a deep breath. Relax your body (stand or sit or whatever). Keep your eyes open. Now just breathe in a relaxed, easy way and notice the things happening around you. For every thing you notice, just say “I smell someone’s perfume. I see someone’s red dress. I feel my shoes…” Just notice. Don’t judge. Don’t think. Don’t process. If you notice active thoughts, just gently go back to the exercise. How does that feel? Don’t worry, if you need to become active, you can snap out of it instantly. (Although with renewed sense of peacefulness.)

4. Breath in Serenity: Standing in line is a good time to do breathing exercises. Breathing purifies, energizes and leads to a nice, serene state of mind. Just do this 10 times: breath all the way out, squeezing your belly to make sure your lungs are really empty. Then take a long deep breath in. Puff out our belly, then your chest. When you think you’re full, sniff in through your nose once or twice. Hold for a few moments (as comfortable), then slowly exhale. Only do as many repetitions as is comfortable. You’ll probably need to build up to ten. Then enjoy the serenity that follows. Notice how your body feels.

5. Become One: Now we’re getting into some really mind-blowing concepts. Standing in line is an opportunity to do exercises to build your feelings of oneness with all things. Consider one of the people standing in line with you. This person is a manifestation of the same profound forces that crafted the starry sky; the same forces that make people look into each other’s eyes and fall in love; the same forces that blanket the springtime in flowers, greenery and birdsong. This person’s consciousness is one of the most profound mysteries of the universe. How could you show this person some kindness? Compliment them. Ask them about their life. Listen deeply, with respect. Each person has something to teach you. Each person is an opportunity to connect more deeply with life.

6. Transcend: “To the illumined mind the whole world burns and sparkles with light.” – Emerson. There are many paths to the enlightened state of being, where you experience the profound nature of all reality and extraordinary bliss and lightness at all times. The more mundane the situation, the better it is for practicing this realization and the feelings that accompany it. Stand in line and think about the trillions of atoms all around you spinning and vibrating, doing their part to create this absolutely unique, once-in-an-eternity moment for you to experience. Most of these atoms were forged in the extraordinary conditions of a star, they are stardust. You are stardust. Imagine everything sparkling and shining. Everything is perfect in this moment.

So vow right now to never waste time in line again. Pick one or more of the practices above to transform your “waiting time” into “awakening time”. What steps could you take to be prepared for that?

You could also set a goal on GoalTribe to commit to not wasting another minute in line for the next 30 days to see how it impacts your life.

Do you have some other suggestions for making waiting time productive? Please share in the comments.

For more productivity strategies see: “Stop Wasting Time” on The Simple Dollar blog.

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Thank you for reading!
Robin

Part of creating a fulfilling life for yourself is discovering the things you love to do and filling your life with them. It’s amazing when your profession is your passion and you volunteer doing things that are both profoundly helpful and enjoyable to you.

But inevitably you end up having to do things that make you want to scream, or make your eyes glaze over like a Dunkin Donut.

Don’t dispair! You can adjust your enjoyment of these things with a few simple tricks:

1. Know Why: Why are you doing this task? Focus on the outcome you’re after and how it will feel to achieve it. For example, how great will it feel to have all your finances organized and fully understand them? And how will it feel to be able to spend knowing that it’s in budget?

2. Watch Your Focus: When working on a project we tend to keep focusing on problems and things which aren’t complete yet, so we can fix them. But be sure to take a moment to look at what’s going right. What’s great about this?

3. Watch your Body: Often if you’re doing something you don’t like, you’re holding that tension and stress in your body - in your muscles, your breathing and your face. Get up and move a little, shake out your body, take a deep breath and let out a sigh as if you’re looking out over a beautiful scene. Let you body relax. Smile. Feel how that change of state feels in your body and try to keep that relaxation as you work. Remind yourself regularly to check how you’re using your body - and relax!

4. Take a Break: Studies have shown that you can’t concentrate too continuously for too long without it affecting your mood and performance. It’s recommended to take a short break every half hour or so. In fact, one study showed that people who watched YouTube or checked FaceBook at work were more productive because they could relax with a laugh or a smile very quickly! (Just don’t let it get carried away.)

5. Reframe & Find Meaning: Often you just picked up a bad attitude, belief or feeling about the task that is just unfairly making you suffer. You think you hate finances - why? Where did that belief come from? Take some time to write out all the ways in which that belief is making your life miserable, then write a new belief like - “I love mastering my finances!” and then write down all the reasons that could be true.

I got to thinking about this topic from the conclusions Glen came to on his inspiring 7 Day Discipline Challenge.
Read about his challenge here: http://www.pluginid.com/pure-self-discipline/

And his conclusions here: http://www.pluginid.com/self-discipline-challenge/

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When you plan a goal, or begin any project that is likely to spin out of control, don’t just decide what you DO. Also decide what you are committed to NOT doing. What are your likely time-wasters? How do you let projects get too complex? Where are you likely to spend too much time on details that don’t matter? For example, does that internal document really need to be SO perfectly formatted and proofread? Too clean your house for the party, do you really need to reorganize the closet no-one will see? Just say NO and get things done in time and without stress.

Some useful blog posts on this subject:

Overcoming Perfectionism Paralysis - by Coach Natalie Gahrmann
Don’t Have Time for Goals? Simplify Your Commitments - The Cheerful Living Blog