Garbage time

In sports, “garbage time” is often referred to time during the game when the winning team has usually won, and the losing time has usually lost. For example, with three minutes left in the 4th quarter of the Lakers game, the Lakers are down by 25 points to the Mavs. It’s unlikely the Lakers will come back for a win – or even make the game competitive – but the game needs be played anyway, those final three minutes still need to lapse.

I found myself in one of life’s garbage time windows the other day. I took my car in for regular maintenance, knowing it would be a waste of time and effort to catch a ride back to my house while the car was worked on. I decided to stay at the dealership for that 90 minutes. I didn’t wanna be there, but those 90 minutes had to pass whether I was getting home and turning back around, or just staying put.

I decided to use my garbage time productively: I read a book, caught up on emails, made a call I’d been putting off. I felt great afterward and like I’d really maximized my time during what I’d initially considered a time-wasting activity, i.e., taking my car to the dealership and having to hang out there.

I refer to my garbage time when I’m stuck in a place (usually physically), don’t have access to an endless list of options (like I might at home), and am there for a finite, longer than 30-minutes sort of duration. The DMV, a plane ride, most commutes of some sort. I’d rather not be there, but it has to be done – how can I make this time worthwhile?

How do you define your garbage time? And how do you use your garbage time?

Sometimes rest and entertainment are excellent garbage time options – it doesn’t all have to be productivity. But knowing how I want to use it helps me better prepare. Resigning myself to staying at the dealership for 90 minutes helped me pack a bag: book, computer, phone charger, coffee canister. Otherwise, I would’ve shown up with just my phone, a 10-minute walk away from coffee, and that time would’ve turned into an Instagram rabbit hole.

Go get ‘em this week.