What did you do today? Go to work? school? What did you do after that? Watch TV? Eat Dinner? Watch more TV? I know that is a very simplistic view of your day and that family responsibilities weigh heavily between work, school and watching TV but just think about all the time you wasted today. I bet there was at least two hours that were just completely wasted on something meaningless and you wish you could get your two hours back. Well, you can’t get that time back. However, you can do the next best thing. When tomorrow rolls around spend that wasted time on something meaningful to you. It doesn’t take much to make a difference and when you do you will know your time was well spent.

You could:

• Find out what your elected officials have been up to and let them know how they should have cast their last 10 votes and tell them how they should cast their next 10.
• Have a week long food drive for your local food bank. It is easier than you think with the help of your friends, neighbors and those two wasted hours per day you’ll be surprised how much food you can raise in a week.
• If you like animals you can always volunteer at your local animal shelter or pet adoption center. A co-worker of mine once committed to finding homes for 10 dogs at the pound. He took pictures of all of them, made fliers and called everyone he knew that had a soft spot for dogs. He saved all of those dogs from being put to sleep just by spending a little less time in front of the TV.
• How about taking a walk after dinner? Just take a small bag with you and pick up litter on your way. You can help the planet and your waist line at the same time.
• Organize a neighborhood clean-up day
• Be a big brother or big sister at www.bbbs.org
• Be a little brother or little sister at www.littlebrothers.org

There are literally thousands of things you can do to make better use of your time. No matter what your skills or passions are there is something you can do to make the world a better place with those two wasted hours. There are matching services like www.volunteermatch.org and www.helpyourcommunity.org that can help you find an opportunity that matches you and your skills.

Even if you only spent 4 hours per week trying to make a difference, by the end of the year you would have made 8 and ½ days better for everyone. If you need a selfish reason to do a little good I have one for you. You won’t feel like you wasted your time anymore. The feeling you get from making a difference is addicting and once you start you won’t be able to stop. Just try it you’ll see, get out and get interested.