Is chatting a waste of time?

You’d be surprised as to how much time a person usually wastes online. There are more than a few websites which make people waste countless hours in front of the computer screen daily without actually getting any work done. That’s why, my friend, I have a challenge for you: stop wasting time online for 7 days and see where you take it from there.

You will understand that staying informed is possible without investing countless valuable hours of your time day in and day out. 

When we are younger, we used to spend hours just chatting on Gmail, Skype, Yahoo, MSN, Twitter chats with friends. We could only do it at home because at the time of university some lab sections have banned the access to all the chatting software and social networking sites.  That’s why the students are much more productive and focused- but my friends must admit, we were stressed too due to the job nature.

After a few years of being into chat, some realize that to me at least, it was a great time waster. Their concern is because chatting is very addictive- and before you know it, you may have spent hours typing away on your chat box. If you chat at work,  it eats into your productive time- and your year-end bonus’s probably at stake if your boss discover your chatting habits. 

Even worse, if she finds out that you've been ranting your frustration about her to your chat friend. If at home, it distances relationships- after all, your chat friend knows more about your life than your sibling or your spouse. You neglect to do housework or pay the bills because of the addiction- and have a strained relationship with your mother because you think that she is asking you to shut down the PC. 

You may not realize it now- but years down the line, you may regret spending time on chat when you could have spend time face-to-face, explore a second income stream,  learn a new skill, etc. 

However, I do agree that chats and Skype have invaluable for loved ones staying in different countries to keep in touch.  Else, if it in the same country, we’ll just rather pick up the phone to call or email the person directly.

In life, it is important to prized our relationships with others- after all, someone who is everyone’s hello friend may have no true friends at all. Who can he turn to when he is feeling sad or lonely? It’s a horrible, terrible feeling when you are in need and the reality dawned on you that there is no one out there for you. 

 

Therefore, instead of spending 2 hours a day on chats, investing just a fraction on your elderly parents would make their day.  Or just spend a little time to write an email or a snail mail to an old friend to keep in touch. At least you are not pressured to reply when the chat box blinks. You can reply at your own time. Or perhaps you can keep a record of your friend’s birthdays using Microsoft Outlook  and send them a short email or sms to wish them. These little gestures add up and usually means much more to people than ‘poking’ or playing online games via social network sites. 

Many things can be done during those few hours while we’re chatting away ! Chatting endlessly, can yes, be a such a waste of time…..