Brits Waste 25 Billion Hours Each Year On Social Media Snooping, Animal Videos And Selfies

A study from Scottish Widows has revealed that Brits waste a staggering 25 billion hours each year - that's around 80 minutes each, per day - on things like browsing social media, taking selfies and watching funny animal videos online.
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There's a commonly accepted narrative that we face more time pressures than ever before, juggling jobs, families and friends. Yet we're also guilty of wasting time on things we don't value. There are few of us who could hand-on-heart say they've never spent our valuable time snooping through ex-partner's social media pages or scrolling online for celebrity news rather than giving our full attention to family and friends.

A study from Scottish Widows has revealed that Brits waste a staggering 25 billion hours each year - that's around 80 minutes each, per day - on things like browsing social media, taking selfies and watching funny animal videos online.

And Brits acknowledge the time wasting is often their own fault with 16% admitting they're the biggest wasters of their own time. Nearly half of those surveyed said deciding what to wear is their top waste of time, followed closely by losing their car in the car park, and searching through your handbag.

But we're also having our time wasted by things beyond on own control - a quarter of us named traffic jams as the biggest waste of time, followed by answering cold calls and being put on hold.

These wasted hours are stopping us from doing the things we really love and that we feel are valuable to our everyday lives - not only spending time with loved ones but also on hobbies, exercising and spending time at the pub!

With all this wasted time you might think the clocks going back this weekend is the perfect opportunity to grab that precious extra hour with loved ones, but almost a quarter of us (22%) are keen to spend the extra hour on some more 'me time.' Not all is lost though, 46% say they'd ditch social media permanently to spend more time with loved ones!

It's all too easy for us to put off important life admin tasks - from getting the best deal on bills for our home, through to planning for our future - so the extra hour this weekend is the perfect opportunity to spend it doing whatever is most important to you. It might be spending an extra hour with your loved ones, or sorting out the things that will make the difference to you and your family's future.

Take a look at www.changeyourlifeinanhour.co.uk to get started or failing that, put your phones down and enjoy some more family time.

Follow Jackie Leiper on Twitter: www.twitter.com/jackieleiper