four time wasters
THERE IS NEVER ENOUGH TIME if you ask most people, busy people. There are always things to do and when you have finished your ‘to do’ list, there is usually a whole host of other ‘things’ waiting to be taken care of. So many things to do. So many potential problems to consider with our time.
Time is something that everyone gets in equal proportion; We all have the same 24 hours in our day. Some days we feel like we’ve accomplished a lot and other days we don’t. When we use our time wisely we gain a sense of peace. However, we often feel alienated from ourselves when we pursue other people’s priorities, or simply don’t have time to do the things that are most important to us. Time for things like planning, preparation, and recreation is key to our overall happiness and well-being.
Stress time is a key issue for some. When we succumb to fear of the unknown and are left to think, “What comes next”, and often find that our thoughts turn to anticipation of the immediate future, this can be stressful; some, in fact, have mild or even major phobias about time in this way. It creates all kinds of short and long term effects. A potential remedy worth considering might be to exercise mind control and have something else to occupy our thoughts to distract us from this type of compelling reaction.
We must strive to balance time with our motivations; what drives us. We want to do many things that we may not have time to do; the things that are most important to us. This will inevitably create dissonance within us as mentioned above.
So how do we optimize our time? How do we make the best use of it? Well, one thing we don’t want to do is waste time. I recently learned of four potential time wasters. In a nutshell, they’re email, voicemail, interruptions, and procrastination, and they’re certainly relevant. This is not to say that any of these activities is a complete a waste of time, but we must exercise some caution, that’s all.
We often get caught up in these things. Either we get lazy, or we want to please people, or we struggle to have the courage to do the right thing. It is worth looking for the causes of succumbing to these time wasters, so that the changes have a better chance of ‘sticking’. Change itself is difficult: it must be decided and then persisted for many weeks before it takes root in our lives.
Email is generally considered a not urgent communication way. Urgent communication really requires other forms of contact, for example, face-to-face meetings or phone calls. Respond to emails only a couple of times a day; We shouldn’t spend more than 30 minutes a day on email, unless we’ve allotted extra time or have that time ‘up our sleeves’.
Voicemail it is a great innovation if used efficiently. To protect your accessibility, be sure to allow certain calls (especially from unknown callers) to go to voicemail, and then delay answering people unless it’s urgent. Sometimes people will be able to work things out without you having to get involved. When leaving messages, be courteous to the caller. Leave your data clearly and do not leave long messages unless you are going to help the recipient-in any case, leave messages that do not exceed 60 seconds in length. Limit your time to answer voice mail.
interruptions that are counterproductive are unnecessary and timeless. Reduce them by politely challenging the situations and the people who create them. Some interruptions are necessary but unwelcome; they could distract you from your focus on a high-priority task. Considering that interruptions can cost you double time(the time of the interruption and the time needed to refocus on the original task), it is advisable to quickly plan a subsequent response and agree with the person in question. The ‘double time’ effect of interruptions is even worse when it comes to projects. Once interrupted, a project’s sequence, progress and chances of success can be seriously undermined unless there is a strong focus to get back on track. The effort required to get the project back on track can also contribute to procrastination; it may be “too hard”. Finally, don’t succumb to “emergency addiction” and treat interruptions as the first priority; this would be a good way to stress yourself out and reward people for doing the wrong thing sometimes i.e. stealing your day.
Delay it’s tragic We all suffer from some procrastination. comes from the Latin word procrastinate: Pro- (forward) and crastine (of tomorrow) and has links to avoidance behavior, particularly task avoidance. Avoiding doing things is usually caused by psychological factors such as fear of failure possibly based on, for example, lack of clarity, or simply because the task may seem overwhelming, and for other reasons. Overcoming procrastination is the key. Do things that could be delayed earlier in the day or set a deadline and then reward yourself for meeting it.
So what do we do with the information? One thing I’ve learned: FAD. 1) Archive, 2) Act on the information, or 3) Delete it. When ‘acting’, be sure to reply, forward or delegate the information. It’s a great relief when you get to a point where you ‘handle’ information efficiently and don’t let it (or surrounding circumstances) confuse you and hold you back.
Like the weather, information should be “for you” and not “against you”: information is your friend, not your enemy.
(C)2007Steve Wickham
Thanks to Franklin Covey (2002) Focus | Achieve your highest priorities – course literature, keeping your focus.
