The #1 Time-waster
What do you suppose America’s number one time waster is? Email? Watching TV? Surfing the net? If you guessed watching television, you’re right. According to the 2010 Bureau of Labor Statistics American Time Use Survey, the average adult spends 2 hours, 43 minutes a day watching TV. While people were more likely to watch TV on the weekends, they still racked up 2 hours, 31 minutes daily during the work week. The only other things people spent more time on were working and sleeping.
A common complaint I hear from people is that there’s never enough time to do the things they want to do. If you’re looking for a quick fix for time issues, take an honest look at your leisure time and see if television is eating up a large portion of it. You might even record the amount of time you spend watching TV in a week. You may be surprised by how much time you spend. There’s nothing wrong with relaxing at the end of the day in front of the TV, but perhaps you could spend that time on more important activities – like taking a walk with your spouse, reading to your child, or catching up with a friend on the phone. For a culture that talks so much about valuing relationships, it’s surprising that we spend almost three times as much time watching television than we do socializing with people. Try cutting out just an hour a day from watching TV, and replace it with something of value. Notice how it affects your mood and stress levels. You might just find that you have more time than you thought!
Conquer the Clutter
You’ve probably heard that a cluttered work space is the sign of a creative mind. Not so! It’s the sign of a stressed out worker who has too much to do. Having an organized office can save you hours of time. A person who works with a messy or cluttered desk spends, on average, 1-1/2 hours per day looking for things or being distracted by things. The time you spend searching for an important file can be better spent on any number of tasks.
If you want to make the best use of your time, then the first order of business is to organize and simplify your work space. As my colleague, Christine, a professional organizer, says, you must be ruthless in clearing the clutter. When you have a clean and orderly work space, you’ll be glad you were. These tips will help you get started conquering the clutter.
- Make as much open space as you can on your desk top.
- Keep your work tools (stapler, paper clips, etc.) handy where you can easily access them.
- Purchase accordion or hanging file folders.
- Set up the most efficient filing system for your needs (with files alphabetized).
- Touch a piece of paper only one time. File it or toss it instead of creating another pile of items to deal with later.
- Clean out your file cabinets. Toss files that you haven’t used in a year or longer.
- Purge your phone books, catalogs and reference books if the information can be found elsewhere (such as online).
- Buy a shredder for purging documents with sensitive information.
Having a clean and orderly work space with a clear-cut filing system will help you become more productive. A neat work area will not only save you time looking for things, but also provide a sense of peace and calm.
The Problem with Multi-tasking
Does this sound familiar? You dial a phone number. While the phone is ringing, you read an email message. Then when someone answers the phone, you haven’t got a clue as to who you called! How about this? What do you do during a teleconference call? Are you intently listening to the caller, or are you checking stock prices on your computer? If you’re like most professionals, you’re probably multi-tasking. With so much to do, it’s tempting to try to do multiple things at once.
Professionals use multi-tasking as a way to get more done. They believe it increases their productivity and efficiency. But does it really? This may surprise you, but there’s no such thing as multi-tasking. The brain cannot focus on more than one thing at a time. In reality, it’s actually switching back and forth very quickly between tasks.
Recent studies show that multi-tasking, in fact, reduces productivity. That’s because people lose time when they switch back-and-forth from one task to another. Each time you’re interrupted, it takes time to switch gears and get back your train of thought. For example, you’re working on a report, the phone rings and you answer it. When you hang up, you return to your report, and ask yourself, “Where was I?”, and then collect your thoughts.
When you multi-task, not only does it take longer, but you’re not as effective. Think about it. If you’re reading an email while trying to listen to someone speak, are you really hearing them? No! You’re only hearing about half of what they’ve said. Then that leads to miscommunication, which can cause further issues.
Don’t fool yourself into thinking you’re more productive when you multi-task. If you really want to be productive, focus on one task at a time, complete it, and then move on to the next task.
When You’re Overloaded at Work
Do you have more to do on the job than you can possibly get done? Is your heavy workload causing you to feel stressed, overwhelmed and exhausted? If you don’t address the issue, then your long work hours can lead to burnout. Burnout can be detrimental to your job and your physical and emotional health.
If you find that your workload has increased beyond your capacity, then it’s time to meet with your boss to address the issue. Here are key points to cover in your meeting.
- Assure your Boss of your Commitment to Work – Explain to your boss that your work is important. You’re feeling overloaded with work, and you want to continue to be productive and perform at a high level rather than burn out.
- Clarify Job Expectations and Priorities – The first step is to make sure you’re clear on your job expectations and priorities. Make a list of your most important work projects. Review this list with your manager, and together prioritize your work priorities. You’ll need to focus most of your time and attention on these priorities.
- Cut out any Non-Value-Added Activities – Review your job description. Make a note of any tasks you perform that are not part of your job description. Your boss may not even be aware of the extra duties you’ve been saddled with. Then determine if there are any tasks that can be eliminated. Maybe you’re expected to write a weekly report, but you know that no one ever reads the report. If it’s not adding value, then get rid of it.
If, after implementing these changes, you find that your workload still requires countless hours a week to complete, then schedule another meeting with your manager to explore other options, such as hiring an assistant or intern, or balancing the workload by assigning it to someone else.
By addressing your heavy workload, you’ll be able to meet your work commitments and deadlines without burning out!
Favorite Time Management Quotes
There’s never enough time! That’s a common complaint I hear from my coaching clients. They tell me there’s never enough time to do all the things they want to do. Time management is critical to our success. But how do you manage time? Well actually, that’s a misnomer. You cannot manage time. But you can manage yourself and how you spend your time.
Sometimes all we need is a little perspective. Here are some of my favorite quotes on time management. Hopefully, they’ll give you some perspective. Pick out a favorite quote and review it often to remind yourself of its truth.
“Don’t say you don’t have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Einstein.” – H. Jackson Brown
“Until you value yourself, you will not value your time. Until you value your time, you will not do anything with it.” – M. Scott Peck
“It’s how we spend our time here and now, that really matters. If you are fed up with the way you have come to interact with time, change it.” – Marcia Wieder
“A wise person does at once, what a fool does at last. Both do the same thing; only at different times.” – Baltasar Gracian
“The bad news is time flies. The good news is you’re the pilot.” – Michael Altshuler
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