This is a challenge I have wanted to do for a while, and I have even tried implementing various aspects of it on and off. One emotion that seems to linger the longest for me—and be the most bothersome to my long-term equanimity—is the feeling of waste or loss.

It can be time, money, emotional bandwidth, or mental processing, but the feeling of having lost or wasted something is a sensation that is tangible for me. Sometimes the effort I expend resisting the loss costs me more than the loss itself. Maybe some of this comes from the value my parents placed on financial responsibility and using time efficiently—the idea that every dollar counts and every minute is worth using wisely. I appreciate and even value this as a general principle. But taken to an extreme, it can become damaging.

For the purposes of this challenge, “waste” doesn’t only mean something objectively wasted; it also means something I experience as a loss. So I would like to have a budget of sorts. But this budget is for wasted moments, money, emotions, and thoughts. The goal is not actually to become more wasteful. It is to become less afraid of waste.

And this isn’t just an accounting of what circumstances force me to relinquish. It is a commitment to surrender some things even when circumstances do not force me to do so. Only then can I practice finding joy and humor in those moments when I feel as though other people, circumstances, or my own actions are robbing me of something. Instead of fighting to recover every lost minute or dollar—or judging every unnecessary thought or emotion—I can sit with the loss, release it, embrace the moment for whatever it is, and perhaps learn something useful and grounded in the process.

Here are the specifics:

1. Wasted Time

Every week, I must waste at least 30 minutes, with a minimum of three hours over the course of the month.

What counts as waste is somewhat subjective, but I generally know it when I experience it. Common examples include waiting for something longer than expected—a line, a printer, a conversation—or sitting through a meeting that runs beyond its stated length or my projected length for it. It could be an event I find difficult to extricate myself from or an unexpected travel delay.

If not much wasted time accrues during the course of the week, then I will intentionally create experiences that do something similar. That might mean visiting a store or some other location that I have no need or particular desire to visit, simply to experience a new place—with no errand to accomplish and no efficiency to extract from it. The point is to experience a stretch of time that I cannot justify as “useful” and allow that to be okay.

2. Wasted Money

I will record dollar amounts when I feel money was wasted throughout the month. If the total is less than $30 by the end of the challenge, I will donate the difference to charity. If I wasted $12, for example, I would donate $18. By the end of the month, I will have surrendered at least $30.

That waste might come in many forms: food going bad before I use it; students taking, losing, or breaking items from my classroom; using a debit card instead of a credit card and missing out on cash back; or forgetting to apply a digital deal at the store. It might also be more indirect, such as giving away something I don’t think I will need, only to regret it later when I discover a use for it. These amounts may be trivial, but the sense of having unnecessarily lost or missed out on something can linger far beyond the actual monetary value.

As a side note, since this challenge has me thinking deliberately about money I am willing to relinquish, I am also using it as a reminder to set up direct deposits for 4% giving by the end of the month. To be clear, I don’t consider charitable giving wasted money; quite the opposite. It is simply something I value but have not made enough of a priority.

3. Wasted Thoughts

Every week, I must allow at least 30 minutes of what I perceive as wasted mental processing, with a minimum of three hours over the course of the month.

This could take several forms. It might be the mental energy required for a task I need to complete but don’t relish, especially one that requires learning a new skill I have little interest in retaining. It might also include those times when I catch myself ruminating. I still want to redirect rumination when I recognize it, perhaps toward a positive mantra. But I also want to release the judgment that comes from realizing that my mind wandered there in the first place. The initial expenditure of mental energy is not helped by adding another layer of mental processing devoted to regretting it.

Intentional “waste” in this area might mean setting aside time on the weekend to think deeply about something that has little or no practical bearing on my life simply because I decide I want to understand it better. Not every thought needs to earn its keep.

4. Wasted Emotions

This category is a little more tangential than the others. I want to expect at least one significantly uncomfortable or emotionally charged experience each week—perhaps embarrassment, anxiety, awkwardness, or some other experience that feels especially taxing.

These experiences can consume a tremendous amount of emotional energy and are often followed by an additional cost: self-judgment about having reacted so strongly in the first place. When one occurs naturally, however, I can allow myself a little relief in the midst of the discomfort: There it is. That’s this week’s experience. I don’t have to manufacture one this weekend.

If one doesn’t occur naturally, I will deliberately—but reasonably—step into a situation that evokes discomfort. That might mean calling someone I haven’t spoken to in a long time after we parted somewhat awkwardly. Or it might mean knocking on the door of someone who lives nearby and introducing myself. That might seem trivial to some people, but at the moment even the thought of doing it creates a strong emotional response for me.

Whether these experiences arise naturally or I intentionally step into them, I want to make them part of the fabric of my existence. Emotional discomfort does not have to be justified, redeemed, or transformed into something productive in order to have a place in my life.

The Goal

My main goal throughout this challenge is to become more accepting of situations as they are, particularly situations involving loss or waste. By making room for their inevitability in my routine, I hope they can become less startling—less like violations of how life is supposed to unfold and more like ordinary experiences to navigate skillfully.

A normal budget tells me how much I am allowed to spend. Maybe this one can teach me how much I am allowed to lose.

Eventually, perhaps I won’t need to keep count.

Namaste.