Wasting time. I know I’m stretching the title’s definition as it’s not agreeable, but it’s how we spend most of our waking hours. At least, those that don’t involve a screen. It’s waiting. And much of screen time is spent waiting for the desired screen to appear, receiving error messages, clicking on dead links, or enduring unwanted ads.
Consider all the time you spend waiting for something to begin, end, or happen. It’s a major chunk of your life. Below is an incomplete list of time-wasters that encrust quotidian life. There are doubtless many more that can be added.
The checkout line in the market
Waiting for the waiter – at all stages of a meal
The dentist’s office
The doctor’s office
Waiting for the show to start
Waiting for the microwave to finish its job
A trip to the Department of Motor Vehicles
Ditto
Going to the Post Office
Waiting for Windows to update
Airport security
Waiting to board the plane
Waiting for it to depart
Waiting for it to land
Waiting for it to find a gate
Waiting for luggage to arrive – assuming it does
Waiting for water to boil
Waiting for coffee to cool
Waiting for the long term to declare itself
Waiting for a human to answer a call to customer service
Returning anything
Filling the gas tank
Social media
Reading more than 10 emails per day
Attending any meeting that lasts longer than 45 minutes
Complaining
Not complaining
Surfing the web
Trying to have an original thought
Making a list
And then it comes patience, not a very popular virtue
Which is why the ability to have a book on my phone to read (in the many of the circumstances you list) as one of the truly valuable things the digital world has bequeathed me.