Mastering Time Management: How to Stop Wasting Time and Start Living with Purpose

There are two common ways people tend to lose track of time. Let’s get familiar with them:

1. Direct Time-Wasting

This is simply not using time for anything meaningful. People who do this are essentially throwing away one of the most precious and irreplaceable resources they have. It’s no different than someone throwing cash into the sea. If we wouldn't tolerate someone discarding money like that, we shouldn’t tolerate ourselves (or others) wasting time that could be used for growth, connection, or productivity.

We must define what actually qualifies as a “waste” of time. Is sitting for half an hour with a cup of coffee and the morning paper a waste? Not necessarily. That half hour may give us the strength and motivation we need to get through the rest of the day more effectively. For the same reason, a vacation isn’t necessarily a waste, nor are other seemingly “non-productive” activities that recharge us emotionally.

Our time is intended to serve multiple purposes including spiritual pursuits, family time, work, and others. As long as we're consciously dedicating time to something we believe is important, it isn't wasted. Wasted time is when we use time in ways that serve no meaningful purpose, or purposes that don’t justify the time spent, according to our own value system.

2. Misused Timing

This is using time for something worthwhile, but at the wrong time or in the wrong way.

For an exaggerated example: Imagine someone spending hours preparing for Shabbat on Sunday. They shop for fresh food, clean the house, and cook beautiful meals. Is this a meaningful goal? Absolutely. But we left out one crucial detail- it’s only Sunday. By the time Shabbat comes, the food may no longer be fresh, and the house may already be messy again. That person may need to redo everything.

In this case, they spent their time on something worthy, but at the wrong time.

Enter: Time Management

Time management means planning our tasks in relation to the time available so that we can accomplish as much as possible, in the most efficient way.

Let’s illustrate this with a story: Is the Jar Full?

A well-known speaker once addressed a room full of executives at a time management seminar in the U.S. He began with a live demonstration.

He pulled out a large glass jar and placed it on the table. Then he took 10 large stones and carefully placed them into the jar until it was full to the brim. "Is the jar full?" he asked. The audience nodded. Yes, it’s clearly full.

He then pulled out a bag of small pebbles and poured them into the jar. They filtered into the spaces between the large stones. He shook the jar a bit and added more pebbles until the jar reached the brim again. “Is it full now?” he asked. The audience, curious now, again said yes.

Then he pulled out a bag of sand. As he poured the sand into the jar, it filled the remaining tiny spaces between the pebbles and the stones. “Now it’s full, right?” he asked. Most nodded.

Finally, he took out a pitcher of water and poured it in. The water seeped through the sand and filled every last gap.

If he had started by pouring in the water or the sand first, there would have been no room for the big stones. By placing the large stones in first, everything else found its place.

The Lesson for Our Time

Our time is like that jar. To make the most of it, we must first fill it with our "big stones"- our most important priorities related to spirituality, family, and meaningful work. Each of us has different “stones,” but we all need to define what they are.

Once the big stones are in, we can add the smaller ones, the less critical tasks, then the sand, and finally the water. The sequence matters. If we spend our time on minor or trivial things first, we may never get to what’s truly important.

We also need to categorize our tasks by size. Bigger, more demanding tasks should be scheduled thoughtfully and given dedicated blocks of time. Smaller tasks can be squeezed in between.

When done right, we not only avoid wasting time, but we transform it into a powerful tool for living a purpose-driven life