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TIME THIEVES: How To Identify The Time Wasters That Rob Your Performance And Productivity!
By JP Maroney | May 21, 2007
By JP Maroney
Time is a unique resource many of us squander. It is used up at the consistent rate of 60 seconds per minute, 60 minutes per hour, 24 hours per day, 30 days a month, and 365 days a year.
You cannot stop time. It cannot be replaced, reused or saved. That’s why time is referred to as our most valuable resource. Thus, if you’re wasting time, you’re actually wasting your life.
But…
What is time anyway? Is it the ticking of the clock? Is it the sand slipping through the neck of the hourglass? Or, is measured time just a representation of something else?
Isn’t it how you live your life, the choices you make? Isn’t it basically how you answer the questions you ask yourself like, what am I going to do today? How am I going to get this job done by 4:00 p.m.? Or, what am I going to do on my vacation?
Tony Robbins, a master trainer, says “the quality of our lives will be determined by the quality of the questions that we ask ourselves.” And you answer those questions by making choices, and those choices add up to living your life. Living the time of your life.
It’s a shame, but most people just squander their lives away. John Howe said, “What folly to dread the thought of suicide, and yet have no regard to throwing our lives away in bits and pieces.” Now, obviously he was referring to wasting time.
Remember, you’ve only got one life to live. Let’s resolve today to get more out of that life. Let’s resolve to live in the present and not the past or the future.
It’s interesting! The people who have had near-death experiences seem to get more out of life. They appreciate every minute, and they squeeze life out of every moment.
Why? Because they almost ran out of time and they appreciate this gift of time.
So, are you the kind of person that says I never have enough time? Or, I’ll do that when I find the time? Or, There aren’t enough hours in the day to do everything I want to do!
If you are, today is designed with you in mind. You’ll receive the tools and strategies to better manage your time and your life. Starting with… Identifying your time wasters.
It takes a some self-discipline and a willingness to change bad habits, but it can be done with this proven system.
Just think of all the benefits to having additional time to accomplish more of the activities that are important to you.
The first benefit is increased performance and productivity…accomplishing more in the same amount of time. Most individuals and companies are interested in greater productivity.
I’m sure you heard Benjamin Franklin’s famous expression, “Time is money.”
Second, you’ll become more valuable to your organization. This usually leads to increased recognition and respect.
And third, you’ll be more in control of situations. That will reduce stress, and anxiety associated with feeling out of control.
Four, you’ll enjoy your work more. This is a direct result of feeling more in control, because, when you feel more in control, you have an opportunity to enjoy what you do.
The fifth benefit is a better self-image. You’ll feel better about yourself. You’ll feel more productive and effective which will increase your self-worth.
And finally, number six is you’ll get more out of each day. Performance will go up. More will get done. And you’ll feel better about it.
Now, that’s a great set of benefits… so let’s get started by first learning how to identify time wasters…these are the challenges that rob us of our time each day.
Think about this… A day lasts 86,400 seconds. One week has 604,800 seconds, and a month has 2,419,200 seconds. The universal question people keep asking is how many seconds do I have left to live.
Consider this story a friend of mine shared with me:
He said, “One night on a flight I tried to figure out how many seconds I had to live if I lived to the age of 90. It was a lot… problem is…now I have trouble sleeping. Why? Because every time I lay down, I keep hearing the tick of clock.”
It just emphasizes the importance of time. Just think of all the seconds you may be wasting a day. Those precious seconds add up to hours…those hours turn to days…those days create our months, then years and so on.
We can’t afford to waste even a second of our time. Each one counts.
For example, if you wasted thirty minutes of each day, you would actually be wasting 22 eight-hour days a year. That’s incredible!
On the upside, if you were to put in an additional hour a day, you would get 30 additional eight-hour days of effort done each year. That’s about a month and a half.
Time really adds up, doesn’t it? That extra hour doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to come to work an hour earlier. You may get it by using your existing work time more productively.
So, what causes us to waste these precious seconds? Well, in most cases wasted time results from not investing the time each day to plan, and then not doing the highest priority activities first.
One of the keys to identifying the time wasters is to understand that a time waster is anything that prevents you from using your time effectively.
There are actually two categories of time wasters, Internal and external.
The internal time wasters are those over which we have direct control. They have to do with self-discipline and bad habits. The good news is that we can become aware of and change our bad habits by replacing them with new, positive habits.
So, what are these negative habits that lead to wasted time?
First and foremost is procrastination. This is a time thief that can steal hours, days and months. Just putting off getting going can be a huge time waster.
Another negative habit is indecision. Actually, procrastination and indecision are similar in that they are usually caused by fear. Now, if you fear something or if the activity is very unpleasant, you tend to avoid it. Even worse, you avoid doing anything about it. In the end, avoidance only makes matters worse, costing you your most valuable, precious resource…your time.
Disorganization is another internal time waster. If you don’t set daily objectives or priorities, you’re not going to accomplish much. Procrastination, indecision, and disorganization are major time wasters, but you can learn to overcome them.
Time management consultant, Allen Latham said, “There is no such thing as a lack of time. We all have plenty of time to do everything we really want to do.”
The key to that statement is that we do have enough time to do everything we really want to do. The difference between a person who accomplishes their objectives and a person who does not, is how they manage their time.
We also said there is a second type of time waster that is caused by External forces.
These are elements to our day over which we have limited control, and in some cases, no control. But later in this program, we’ll discuss how you can set boundaries to limit the effect of external time wasters.
Let’s take a look at some examples.
One major external cause of wasted time is interruptions. These usually include telephone calls, surprise visitors or crises of some sort. Certainly these are things that you didn’t plan on happening.
Waiting is another one. You may waste a lot of time each day waiting for someone or something. Again, something over which you have limited control.
Sometimes unnecessary meetings are time thieves. This doesn’t mean that all meetings fit into this category. Yet, we’ve all been in meetings that are a waste of time for everyone involved.
All of these internal and external time wasters have the power to rob you of the precious time you need to achieve your objectives. It’s important to occasionally evaluate what’s going on in our lives to see if any of these time wasters are limiting our success.
Let’s do that right now. I want to give you an exercise for today.
Take a few minutes to examine your own life personally and professionally. What are the things that rob you of your time? What are the challenges that keep you from accomplishing more? Think about them and then write them down. Consider the major and the minor time thieves. Think about them and list them.
Then… I would LOVE for you to post them here in the blog comments. Tell us 1) What your top time wasters are, and b) How you think you can and will deal with these time wasters to get more productivity out of your life.
CLICK HERE to post your comments!
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JP Maroney is a business growth strategist, best-selling author and award-winning speaker. Receive his FREE book, “5 Ways to Double or Triple Your Business” by visiting www.JPMaroney.com
Interested in publishing this article in your magazine, newsletter, blog, website or article directory? Send an email to info at jpmaroney dot com or call 1-800-304-5758.
Topics: Business Growth, Employee Development, Personal Development, Uncategorized |
May 22nd, 2007 at 1:11 am
I just did an interview with the author of The MillionaireMaker.
Spectacular interview and one of the big things we talked about was the time it takes to “evaluate” opportunities.
We may feel that we don’t want to miss an opportunity but in the time that it takes to review and review, we could remain more focused — saving time and bringing all the rewards that focus brings.
Another…
Indecision.
Not only does it waste time “in the pondering,” again it robs us of focus and creative thought.
VERY expensive!
Shaune
May 22nd, 2007 at 1:39 am
@ Shaune Clarke
Yup…
It’s a TRAP so many entrepreneurs fall into — present party included — thinking we might “miss out” on a great opportunity.
(Note: “Indecision” is #2 on the list internal time wasters)
May 22nd, 2007 at 5:41 am
Time is the one thing we can control so to speak.However easy to say but difficult to put into practice.
There is a need to seriously take stock
as to where you are and where you want to
be and set a realistic timetable with respect to achieving one’s goals.It is going to take a high level of focus.This is the area that I have a challenge with for various reasons.
May 22nd, 2007 at 11:16 am
Time is money but also money is time. In between the two realities the lack of mental clarity on actions to take is the great thief…
Many great “time managers” suggested to have a list of priorities, a “things to do” list. The idea is to get to the ultimate level of clarity.
For an entrepreneur this is essential, staying focused on the priorities path is a constant necessity as it it so easy to get distracted by all the business “accessories”…
Thanks for this great article !
June 19th, 2007 at 12:02 pm
Hy J P,
With time, like my approach to life, I need time to go deeper. Not from a lack perception in time, but depending on my immersion goes fast or slow.
Regardless of an outcome financially, life at purpose for a minute is better than a life with however much material success.
To marry the two is my question?
Cheers
Doug