Rules to Stop Wasting Life [Discussion]

[u/hardwireddiscipline]

Most of us aren’t really living, we’re just wasting time.
We tell ourselves we’ll start tomorrow.
We drown in comfort.
We numb ourselves with noise.

The Stoics warned us about this. They weren’t just philosophers, they were people fighting against the same weaknesses we face today. Seneca put it brutally: “It’s not that we have a short time to live, but that we waste a lot of it.”

Lately I’ve been asking myself: how much of my time is really lived, and how much is just wasted?
The 4 Stoic rules that keep coming back to me are:

1. Remember you’re dying (Memento Mori)
2. Choose pain over comfort
3. Stop lying to yourself
4. Do the work in silence

For me, comfort as a slow poison is the hardest truth. It’s so easy to slip into scrolling, eating, or procrastinating and call it “rest.” But it’s not rest. It’s wasting life.

What about you? Which of these rules feels most urgent in today’s world, and why?

[u/Necessary_Baker_7458]

Limit time on electronics: tv, social media, phones, tablets, computers.... Have off days or off periods where you and your family are not screen glued. Bring back life styles before technology. You'll find you'll be more productive. I only allow my self a few short hours a week on my computer and once my timer goes off that's it.

Make time for it. IT's not about will or time you have that. You have to make time for it. Say for example I wanted to learn more skills and I have all this time after work going to waist so I started changing my algorithms in life and now refuse to let my electronics be time waisters. Most people these days are so phone addicted they don't know what else to do.

I have found that funds don't matter. I have never had high waged jobs and never earned more than $50-$60k annually. If you are sway with finances you can work extra things into your life and make these things happen. I went back to school and am almost done with it and just had to revise my finances to allow it.