Time Confetti Mindfulness without Spending Money

In 2014, Brigid Shulte introduced the concept of “time confetti” to describe the splintering of our days into smaller and smaller bits of time that we feel compelled to utilize and optimize at all costs. Time confetti impacts our work, our leisure, our relationships, and our own self-care in ways that are both insidious and obvious. As most of us find large chunks of leisure and work time harder and harder to come by, we lose our focus and our intentions in a flurry of small, insignificant tasks that we feel compelled to complete out of a misdirected need to optimize and be productive so we can “earn back” the personal time that defines the “life” part of work-life balance. Ironically, as we mindlessly multitask and optimize our way through the day, we are losing that balance without even being aware of it. We respond to text messages from colleagues at the gym. We put in our online grocery orders while walking to our cars to drive home from our jobs. We write to do lists while waiting in the school pickup line. We compose emails while eating lunch. We listen to podcasts about professional development while making our dinner.
The loss of intentional leisure and uninterrupted personal time is real, and many of us are feeling the emotional and psychological impact of this mindless “doing”. But how do we combat it? The answer is to start small and shift the automatic behavior with intentional redirection and mindful activity.
“Mindfulness”, like “wellness”, has become a cultural synonym for “expensive”. There is always an app to download or a book to buy or a class to pay for or a piece of technology to invest in, but mindfulness can also be simply stepping back and making more deliberate choices about how we fill our time, our space, and our consciousness. This can be done with little to no financial commitment and minimal time investment. Mindfulness can be free and quick. Mindfulness is also far more than meditation, which has become another cultural synonym. We can be mindful while still be active, productive, and busy.
Mindfulness in Under a Minute:
1) Use an elevator ride to center yourself. Instead of pulling out your phone and scrolling through text messages or notifications, use elevator time to give your mind a rest. Pause. Breath. Focus on the physical sensations of the car lifting off the ground and how your body automatically adjusts to the change in your center of gravity. Lean against the wall. Close your eyes. Just be in the space and focus on what you are hearing, smelling, and feeling.
2) Box breathe at a traffic light. Instead of running through your mental to do list or thinking about what you need to buy at the grocery store, use the small breaks in your commute to take care of your sympathetic nervous system. Breathe in from your belly for a count of four, hold that breath for a count of four, breathe out for a count of four, and then hold again for a count of four. Do this for as long as you can until the light changes.
3) Leave your workspace to eat your lunch and do not take your phone. Simply moving from one space to another can have a very powerful impact on your brain’s ability to shift focus. If you work from home, leave your work area and move outside or to another room. If you work from an office, leave your desk and venture to a new part of the building. You may want to avoid the break room, as well, to prevent getting sucked into a conversation about the upcoming meeting or that Slack message with the questionable “tone”. Eat your lunch and do not multitask. This can feal lazy, at first, but it’s simply an act of rest.
Five Minutes or Less of “Productive Mindfulness”:
1) Invest in a “mini purge” to clear clutter. Getting rid of unwanted items that no longer serve you is one of the most intentional ways to care for your personal space but designating time to sort and purge can be prohibitive. Keeping a designated “donation basket” in your closet and the main living area of your home can provide a quick and convenient route to tackling the problem of too much stuff. When you come across a toy, a piece of clothing, a book, or a nick-knack that you don’t want anymore, put it in the basket. Once a month, take the basket to your local thrift store. Repeat until your space feels “right”.
2) Organize one space that has been impacting you mentally. We often function in extremes, which can lead to ambitions that are unrealistic for the logistical demands of our lives. Instead of spending an entire weekend organizing your whole bedroom, start with one small space, like the top of your nightstand or your sock drawer. Identify your priorities. Figure out what you need to do to solve the problem. Put on some music. Set a timer. Work. You will have one less daily aggravation in your life. Tackle the next small space in a day or two.
3) Have a planning meeting with yourself at the start of your week. Sit down in a space without distractions and write out the most important thing that needs to be accomplished on each day of the coming week. This is not about crafting detailed to do lists for the next week. It is about identifying the One Thing that needs to be done each day for your life to function and flow properly. On Monday, the task may be calling a plumber to fix the water heater. On Tuesday, it might be picking up your grocery order. On Wednesday, it might be emailing a presentation to your supervisor. The goal is to have the non-negotiable task for each day identified. This will help clarify and structure how to allocate your time more intentionally.
Mindfulness without Meditation in 30 Minutes or Less:
1) Host a private dance party in your bedroom. Sometimes, we just need to move without a purpose, or a goal being attached to it. Instead of counting steps or estimating calories burned, give yourself the gift of enjoying your body without a metric. Find a song that speaks to you in the moment, put it on, and move for the sake of moving. This is one of the most effective ways to shift a mood, clear your mind, and give yourself an energy boost. You will also be doing something positive for your cardiovascular system.
2) Read a “real book”. Reading provides many of the same benefits as meditation, especially if we do it without involving a screen. Books are abundant and easily available for little to no cost. Check them out at your local library, grab a few from a thrift store, or ask a family member to pass on a good read. Thirty minutes of enjoying a good book will have significant benefits for mood regulation, cognitive focus, and physical health.
Enjoy nature without distractions. Walking outside, sitting in a wooded area, tending to plants, or petting an animal can offer immediate and impactful reductions in cortisol and vasopressin, two of the most significant stress hormones. Enjoying nature and the outdoors without electronics or phones can be even more beneficial. Like reading, nature is an alternative to meditation that may be easier and more accessible for you, so explore options to engage with the outdoors and the natural world that fit with your personality, interests, and budget. Simply swapping one gym workout a week for a walk at a local park may suffice. Borrowing your neighbor’s dog for a cuddle session may be the pathway to calm for you. Driving to a local lake and feeding the ducks may be another option. Drinking your coffee outside in the morning may be more “you”. Whatever option you choose, nature offers a meaningful way to engage with parts of life that are not about schedules and tasks.
Written by Deanna Diamond, LPC