Describe an occasion when you wasted your time

 IELTS Cue Card

Sample answer

Describe an occasion when you wasted your time.

You should say:
Where you were?
When it was?
What you did?
And explain why you think it was a waste of time?

Introduction

• Time is our most precious resource.
• Being an organised person, I have this habit of making the best use of my time.
• However, despite my best efforts, I lost wasted my valuable time six months back.

Where you were? and When it was?

• In March this year, the wedding of my cousin was about to happen.
• Since I am quite close to him, I took a big break of one month from my work, especially for her wedding.

What did you do?

• We went shopping together to different places to finalise the best wedding dress for her.
• To make the occasion a memorable one, I visited all of our relatives to give the wedding invitation.’
• For one week, I worked closely with a choreographer to give a dashing dance performance at the wedding reception.
• Apart from this, I worked tirelessly to look at the whole wedding arrangements like catering, photography, hotel accommodation for guests etc.

And explain why you think it was a waste of time?

• All my efforts went in vain when the higher authorities imposed a lockdown in the middle of March month.
• Since the coronavirus was spreading at a brisk pace during that time.
• The government put a restriction on the number of guests that you could invite for a wedding.
• Although my cousin tied the nuptial knot, the celebration was quite a simple one.
• Only 30 guests were allowed to attend the wedding.
• Hence, the time and energy I used to make his wedding one of the best weddings in our family went for a toss.

IELTS Speaking Part 3: Follow up Questions

Here are some examples of follow up questions that the examiner might ask during your speaking part 3 related to cue card “Describe an occasion when you wasted your time”.

1. How can we avoid wasting time?

We can do so by making a timetable and rigorously following it.

2. Is time management important?

Time is the most precious resource of our life. Therefore we must handle it in a prudent manner. Time management helps to organise our work, and it raises our productivity.

3. Should parents help children manage their time?

Yes, parents should inculcate the habit of managing time in children. Because of the good habit of time management, learnt during childhood would lead the children towards an impressive growth trajectory.

4. Do you think relaxing is a waste of time?

No, relaxing is not at all a waste of time. It is an activity that recharges us and often leads to providing easy solutions to complex problems.