At some point, one stops collecting, and one starts accumulating. The former is a matter of pleasure enhanced by discernment; the latter, a reflex action, done because one has no better idea of how to spend ones resources.
I dread everything; it saves time. Today was just the latest example: time badly spent, overlooking a vast stretch of similarly undifferentiated time, waiting for the moment when one’s collection is complete. That’s actually a moment I don’t dread at all.
A Planet That Has No Sky 
Whenever I feel that I’ve spent my time badly, I try to determine exactly what I learned from that mistake. It’s the only way to salvage the time. Also, I give myself a bit of a break because most (if not all) humans are pretty dense and waste too much of their time (although I have my doubts about James Lileks – check out his self absorbed “Bleat”)
Collecting vs. Accumilating is a problem I’ve faced many times. I collect comics, but sometimes I worry that now I get it only because I always have. Haven’t made my mind up yet if I still enjoy it enough to continue.
Even when I don’t waste time I feel like I’ve wasted time. It’s sort of like whenever I purchase something. I might have wanted that something for a long time. And yet, once it’s bought, I’m sure I should have saved my money.
I treat time as just a man-made construct, something we humans adhere to for biological and mental convenience. In the inscrutable face of eternity, yes, calendars are pretty pointless.
Imagine: if we had all the money in the universe, we’d cheerfully spend it like mad because there was no chance of ever running out. Of course this isn’t true; but on the other hand, with time, yes, we really do have all the time in the universe, all the time we’ll ever need. It’s only possible to “run out of time” because of the fake constructs imposed by our human society. Despite what our fake “calendars” tell us, we have eternity. So why fret about “wasting” time, or “spending it badly”? A waste is only possible when there is likely to be a shortage, and in respect of time, that ain’t going to happen.