How many times have you had to wait around for a meeting or wait in a queue? Do you get angry or do you find something productive to do?

It never ceases to amaze me how many people complain at the time spent waiting when attending a hospital appointment. They comment that EVERY time they attend hospital appointments they are always waiting at least an hour and then have nothing productive to do with the time.

They sound like a broken record every five minutes complaining yet again that the appointments are never on time. If they know they are going to be kept waiting why don't they bring something to keep them occupied and save them wasting time?

 I always carry a book and/or a puzzle book and a note pad in my bag. This way I can spend some time mildly taxing my brain; with a Sudoku, finding order out of chaos with a word search or testing my general knowledge with a crossword. If I find there are some answers I do not know I make a note of it in my note pad so I can read up on it at a later date.

Sometimes this leads to in-depth research which takes hours, days or weeks whilst other times it is just a quick question on Google. Technology is making research so much easier but we have to be careful to obtain knowledge from a reputable source or instead of being educated we can and up looking foolish.

Having a note pad handy also means I can catch up with letter writing. I have some friends who do not have computers or who like to receive a letter via snail mail. I do have to make sure I finish the letter that day though or I have many half finished unsent letters that have been a complete waste of time. A few envelopes and stamps on hand help ensure the completion of this task.

If you have time to spare, and there are cars around, use the time to exercise your brain. Using car number plates try to make the longest word you can from the letters in the number plate in the correct order starting with the first letter in the sequence e.g. EBM - establishment.

This game is useful to develop children's spelling and can be made more challenging by setting a time limit - mobile phones are useful in providing a countdown timer. It can be developed by seeing how many words can be found within a set time and points awarded for each letter.

Simple physical exercises can be done whilst standing in a queue and no one need know you are doing them. Pelvic floor exercises are beneficial for everyone, not just women, and do not take a long time. Buttock clenches also take little time and effort.

If you are in a safe environment then visualisation is an excellent way of spending 5-10 minutes. Visualising how you want you life to be or how you want a meeting to go ahs enormous benefits. Athletes use visualisation all the time.

By visualising success over and over again and using all your senses whilst doing it is one of the best ways to achieve success. Additionally it can be used o help with pain relief and is becoming a widely accepted tool by the health service.

Never again should you feel that waiting around is an evil to be endured. Instead see it as an opportunity to move one step nearer to you goal. Get into the habit of chunking major projects into bite size pieces and have on hand ways of making the most of a ten minute break in your day. 

Blocks of ten minutes at a time soon add up and progress is seen to be made. Once this happens you want to spend more time completing small tasks to move you closer to your dream, whatever that may be.

Make every minute of your life count. Spend time counting your blessings. Only by truly appreciating what you have are you receptive to further opportunities. It only takes a minute to start it but it will alter the way you look at your life.