12 Things CLEVER People Don’t Waste ANY Time With

Smart time management for advanced people. Intelligent people do a lot of things differently than their averagely talented contemporaries. They usually know their worth quite well, without making a big fuss about it. But their self-confidence is not the only advantage they enjoy. What fundamentally distinguishes them from the less smart is their ability to set the right priorities. Right in this context is not to be understood as objectively right or wrong, right here means right for them. One of the most important aspects for them is their time management. Time is not only money, it is first and foremost a valuable commodity and we don’t have unlimited amounts in our lives. Many activities are real time-eaters and in return they bring us nothing or very little. Smart people have recognized this and therefore divide their days and hours sensibly. Some things they leave out all together because they have proven to be a waste of resources. We would like to introduce you to twelve of these useless pastimes in this article.

1. Focus on negatives.

Whether it's intuition, common sense, or life experience, smart people know that focusing on negative things doesn't get them any further in life. Those who indulge in gloomy thoughts and constantly drag all the evils of this world around in their heads inhibit themselves from moving forward. Besides, negative things are known to attract negative things.

2. Care about what others think.

Lao Tzu once gave us one of the most important lessons for a better life: "Care what other people think and you will forever be their prisoner." Those who grew up in the strict social fabric of a constantly attentive society will certainly have a hard time letting this go, at first. Many of us have been exposed to the typical "What are people saying?" since childhood. Smart people simply don't care what people, neighbors, or just about anyone else thinks of them. They do their thing and enjoy their lives as social outlaws who don't bow to the laws of informal social control.

3. They see the skills, not the things.

You'll rarely find smart contemporaries among those who spend vast sums on the perfect piece of equipment, the luxurious IT kit or the ornately crafted fountain pen with a gold monogram. They don't believe in the power of the tool, but in the power of the ability. This is what they train and practice. Spending money on expensive tools, which in the end provide the same good service as cheaper alternatives, would not occur to the smart ones.

4. cultivate false friendships.

Statistically, smart people have fewer friends than dumb ones. They recognize sooner when an acquaintance has run its course or perhaps someone just wants to take advantage of them. Conversations without real content and meaningless small talk without added value are not their cup of tea.

5. Avoid avoidable risks.

Those who approach their tasks in a reasonably planned and intelligent manner logically experience fewer nasty surprises. The smart ones among us are rarely risk takers. They like to weigh up all the options and also think through the respective consequences. They are therefore much less likely to crash land.

6. Dream less, work more.

The motto "Success has two letters, 'D-O' " is guaranteed to hang on the refrigerator door or in the office of many smart people. They know that beautiful dreams, unfortunately, often remain just dreams, but do not lead to tangible results. A certain hands-on mentality is therefore usually a hallmark of smart personalities.

7. Why complicate when it can be simple.

Those who are smart occasionally take a practical shortcut. These can be everyday things, such as shopping, cooking or organizing the household. Of course, more complex processes, such as work tasks, can also be simplified if you think about them briefly and with a little brain power. Many intelligent people can't stand overly complicated contemporaries. It stresses most of them out just listening to them construct their convoluted mental labyrinths.

8. Wanting to impress other people.

We should stop for a moment and consider what kind of person we spontaneously feel the need to impress. Our family and our circle of friends are rarely among them. Most of the time, it's people we don't like. So why bother? We should impress ourselves, maybe also our parents, who have invested a lot of time, energy, money and effort in our development. God, the universe, and karma also reward us when we achieve goodwill. Most other people would rather bite their tongues than give us the applause we crave anyway. Envy and resentment tend to be all we get instead of admiration and praise.

9. Get out of the way of problems.

The smart ones know it: problems grow if you let them simmer instead of standing in their way with everything you’ve got. Therefore, their problems usually don’t flare up for long and tend to be "short and painless". Anyone who makes the mistake of tolerating bad behavior or failing to immediately warn off encroachers on their privacy opens all doors to negative vibes. Don’t be one of those who do not defend themselves by remaining silent – those who remain silent, as we all know, are tacitly agreeing with the problem.

10. Unthinking media consumption.

When smart people devote themselves to their entertainment, they do so very deliberately. They go to the movies, the theater, read books or watch very specific shows and websites. A soulless binging marathon with mind-numbing side effects is not their idea of entertainment. Nor will you find the smart ones staring dead-eyed at their smartphones for hours on end, trying to scroll their way to nirvana.

11. Wait for the perfect moment.

Life offers us an infinite number of opportunities. But there's one we'll have to wait forever and three days for: the perfect moment. Whether it's for changing jobs, starting a family, moving, taking time off, or breaking up; the absolute ideal time will never exist. There are always reasons that speak for or against it. Ideal laboratory conditions can only be found there, in closed, artificially produced systems, but not in real life.

12. Dwell in remorse and regret.

Smart people live in the here and now, they don't mourn a glorified past or missed opportunities. They don't weep for their lost youth or wasted time that no one can give back to them anyway. Of course, there are circumstances in their lives that they regret and decisions that they would make differently years later. However, they do not remain in regret mode or fall into self-doubt because of it. It is quite normal that we regret failures and would do some things better in retrospect. But the past must not prevent us from shining in the present. As long as it casts its shadow darkly, however, that will not really be possible.

Our conclusion

Time is in short supply. Health and time are two goods that we don’t have unlimited quantities of. We should be mindful of both, as both can quickly be gone. Smart people live consciously in the present. They are centered and concentrate on themselves and their goals. They ignore background noise and heckling from the cheap seats. Basically, smart people live by the famous quote from German writer Peter Tille: "Thinking makes you intelligent, living makes you smart."