Well, that was a waste of time.

Who can be the judge of time that is wasted? After all, we all waste time to some degree or another.

Sometimes the person who says “that” was a waste of time is including a person involved in the experience they deemed a waste of time. If this is the case, the person(s) involved in the experience were all wasting time with one another doing or not doing whatever it was that was deemed a waste.

We sleep half our lives. Isn’t sleeping a “waste” of time? Sure, we need sleep in order to recharge our bodies. Health nuts and gym rats pore over the amount of sleep they get in order to achieve peak performance in their personal and professional lives. That kind of preoccupation is a waste of time–even more so than the actual sleeping itself. Because it’s not enough to just sleep these days. You have to have quality sleep. Obsession much?

Sometimes reading blogs such as this is a waste of time. I admit it. But, if you’re smart, you’ll read through to completion and surely find it time well spent.

I personally don’t read very many blogs. I can only read so much. I don’t have the time to begin with to be choosy with the reading material I avail myself of. And let’s be clear. I am not catering to any one person, group or audience when it comes to subject matter employed in my writing. That, for me, would be the pinnacle of wasting time.

I used to think meetings were a waste of time. Many times they were and are. But, I can’t seem to eliminate them completely from my life. I’ve been told they’re a necessary evil (whatever that means). If they’re not productive, they’re nothing more than a waste of time. If something is evil to begin with I’d hardly find it necessary.

I like it when I am asked to take a survey after doing something, going somewhere, getting my car fixed, flying in an airplane (as George Carlin used to say, “Let the daredevils get on the plane. I’m going in.”), eating ice cream, buying something in the store, filling my car up, etc. Actually, I don’t like it much at all.

Surveys are a waste of time. But it’ll just take five minutes, right? Wrong. By taking surveys you are participating in the paralysis that is gripping the world regarding decision-making.

Surveys are like interviews. They are conducted mostly by businesses and individuals who without them are unable to accurately predict trends that will help them do business effectively moving forward.

One of the problems with surveys is the limited sample size. Something else resembling surveys and interviews are polls. Remember the commanding lead Hillary had in the polls?

We should have stopped using polls, surveys and interviews right then and there. But, of course, we’re gluttons for punishment and just because we have no replacements for them, we decide to keep using them. Pretty much a huge waste of time all considered.

In retrospect I believe going online with a 33.6K/14.4 Modem was a huge waste of time. I should have been smart enough to just stay off the grid until broadband was common.

Which brings us to something that is not a waste of time no matter how you slice it.

I watched the Oscar-winning documentary, “Searching for Sugar Man” recently. This was most definitely not a waste of time. It was one of the most amazing cinematic experiences I have ever had.

And certainly not for its 3D or movie special effects which there were none of.

Unless, that is, you’re able to consider the magic that is the feel good special effect of discovering an artist (Rodriguez) who remained commercially obscure most of his life until being found “alive” in this country by fans in another. No doubt like me you’ll be glad you did.

Since the movie came out six years ago, though, I must have been wasting time for having not discovered Rodriguez until now. Perhaps I was living under a rock. I don’t know.

But, allow me to disclose one of the best ways not to waste three minutes and 25 seconds by having a listen of “I Think of You” by Rodriguez: