Describe an activity that you usually do that wastes your time.
You should say What it is? When you usually do it? Why do you do it? And explain why you think it wastes your time.
Note: You will have to talk about the topic for one to two minutes. You have one minute to think about what you are going to say. You can make some notes to help you if you wish.
Model Answers and follow up questions to describe an activity that you usually do that wastes your time IELTS cue card:
Model Answer 1:
Introduction: Well, life has become extremely fast and busy, and people often complain that they are short on time, yet we waste a lot of time intentionally or unintentionally.
What it is? Here I would like to talk about an activity that I do regularly, and it wastes my hours easily.
When you usually do it? and Why do you do it? The fact is that I am quite active on social media, which is more like a weed these days. It is a more practical way to remain in touch with friends and relatives as it saves a lot of time and energy when compared to meeting others personally.
Explain why you think it wastes your time? But sometimes, I feel I waste too much time on this. Firstly, I have a huge network of friends who are active on different apps like Whatsapp, Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter, and others, and for their sake, I always have to remain active on these platforms.
In addition, people sometimes share posts unduly and always expect from
others to comment, and a few of my friends are so obsessed that they get angry with me if I don’t comment in time.
Similarly, every second day is someone’s birthday, and I have to spare time to wish them. Moreover, these platforms are bombarded with extremely tempting advertisements, and once I get on these sites to check anything, I end up wasting a lot of time.
Conclusion: I feel very bad because now I am kind of addicted to using these platforms. I can utilize this time more productively than I waste here unduly.
So, this is an activity that I do regularly, which wastes a lot of time of mine.
Model Answer 2:
Introduction:
Time plays a significant/vital role in everyone’s life. It not only helps us make a good habit but organizing our daily activities also.
It is good if we understand the value of time because we can gain experience and develop skills over time. But sometimes we do some activities that waste our time.
What it is?
Here, I would like to talk about an activity that wastes my time.
Gossiping is not nice. If you’re doing it at work, you’re unproductive. If you’re doing it in the schoolyard, then it can lead to a vicious/dangerous cycle where people tear each other down or insult sometimes rather than build each other up.
When you usually do it?
I also do gossip/ unnecessary chats every day. In every evening time, my colony friends are gathered in the park, we play games, exercise, and spent about an hour on gossips.
Exercise and physical games make us healthier but doing gossip is a total wastage of time.
I mostly talk about new movies, fashion and TV serial’s stories with my friends that take a long time.
Why do you do it?
I do unnecessary chat because it releases my stress and makes me lighter, but only when I do it for a short time. On the other hand, when discussion takes a long time, it affects my schedule.
Explain why you think it wastes your time?
I know it affects my work/ study, but I can’t live without it because I am habitual of it.
Conclusion:
Nowadays, I am trying to leave this habit, and I am glad I got a little bit of success.
Model Answer 3:
Introduction:
In all honesty, thinking about an activity that wastes my time was rather picking one activity from a long list of activities that I waste my time on.
What it is?
So, out of all those activities, I think playing video games is the one that I regret the most.
When you usually do it?
I play video games in the evening or on the weekends.
I feel they are wasteful because they don’t achieve my intended purpose.
Why do you do it?
I think I play them to relieve my stress, but actually, I end up feeling more stressed after playing them,
The thrill of the win makes me play more, and thus I end wasting hours on it, which in the end stresses me.
Losing, on the other hand, makes me feel incompetent, which again ultimately makes me feel stressed.
Explain why you think it wastes your time?
However, more than anything, I think it is wasteful because it doesn’t benefit me in any way.
Rather I lose out on a lot of important things in life because of playing these games.
I feel like I would spend more time with my family if I didn’t play them.
I could also be playing outdoor activities or going to the gym instead, which would be beneficial for me from a health perspective.
Another hobby I had in my childhood was reading books, but because of this, I am not able to read books as well.
And reading novels always improved my mood because I felt I gained something after reading them.
It didn’t matter whether it was fiction or non-fiction.
A lot of my friends also complain that in recent years I have stopped spending time with them.
I always give the excuse that I am busy, but I know that I would be able to spend plenty of time with them if I didn’t play video games.
Conclusion:
However, I also believe that there are people who are really able to enjoy games and feel better after playing them.
Then, there are others who are actually able to make money by playing video games.
For them, it might not be wasteful, but for me it certainly is.
IELTS Speaking Part 3 : Follow up Questions
Here some examples of follow up questions that you may asked during your speaking part 3 by examiner related to cue card “describe an activity that you usually do that wastes your time”.
1. How do you balance work and life? I think balancing work and life is always a work in progress. We are always doing it, and it is not something specific. For example, if we go on vacation with the family, we come back and spend extra time at work to make up for the pending work. Another rather unhealthy way, we achieve it is by cutting down on our sleep hours, but it takes a big toll on our mental and physical health.
2. Will you continue doing something when you are aware that it wastes your time? I think the adage ‘bad habits die hard’ would be the best answer to this question. I think we do such things because we are addicted to them. I think it’s very hard to give up on such activities, and it requires a lot of willpower. However, the realisation that the activity is wasteful is the first step, and once people have that, it becomes easier to stop.
3. What kind of things make people pressured? I think there are millions of things in today’s life that stress us- for example, financial obligations, unreasonable work deadlines, competition with others, and maintaining relationships. The pressure each puts varies according to the stage of life- for example, competition stress is in the early stages when we are trying to get into universities or trying to secure a good job and financial stress comes a little later when we have to manage the expenses for the whole family.
4. Why do some people refuse to abide by the rules? I think there is a certain thrill in breaking the rules and doing whatever we want. In some ways, it is exhilarating and freeing to not care about the rules and regulations. Actually, I think it is good as long as we don’t harm others because it prevents life from becoming monotonous and boring.
Describe an activity that you usually do that wastes your time IELTS cue card
Model Answer 1: Introduction: Well, life has become extremely fast and busy, and people often complain that they are short on time, yet we waste a lot of time intentionally or unintentionally. What it is? Here I would like to talk about an activity that I do regularly, and it wastes my hours easily. When you usually do it? and Why do you do it? The fact is that I am quite active on social media, which is more like a weed these days. It is a more practical way to remain in touch with friends and relatives as it saves a lot of time and energy when compared to meeting others personally. Explain why you think it wastes your time? But sometimes, I feel I waste too much time on this. Firstly, I have a huge network of friends who are active on different apps like Whatsapp, Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter, and others, and for their sake, I always have to remain active on these platforms. In addition, people sometimes share posts unduly and always expect from others to comment, and a few of my friends are so obsessed that they get angry with me if I don’t comment in time. Similarly, every second day is someone’s birthday, and I have to spare time to wish them. Moreover, these platforms are bombarded with extremely tempting advertisements, and once I get on these sites to check anything, I end up wasting a lot of time. Conclusion: I feel very bad because now I am kind of addicted to using these platforms. I can utilize this time more productively than I waste here unduly. So, this is an activity that I do regularly, which wastes a lot of time of mine.
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