Top 10 Time Wasters in our Busy Society

My previous blog post on time management seemed to peek quite a bit of your interest so I thought I would give you a few more time saving tips.  Do you fall into the trap of wasting time? If you do then you are literally throwing money away because, time is a valuable commodity and we all know that a commodity has a value! When you waste your precious time, you’re actually preventing yourself from achieving the things you desire and thus reaping the rewards that come from that – whether those rewards or monetary, emotional or recreational.

Here I have listed what I believe to be the top ten time wasters.  Take a look and if you find yourself spending too much time on one or more of these activities, try changing some of your habits so your time can be more productive and rewarding.  **NOTE** Only try changing one at a time.  Then as you see the rewards gained from saving time on that first time waster you can move on to the next one & the next one until you are a lean mean time saving machine.

1. Worry. Many people will waste their time worrying until doomsday about every little thing in their lives. Usually thing that they have no control over and can not change in the first place or things that will never happen.  This is simply unproductive and bad for your health, mind, and spirit.
   
   • If you have something worrisome coming up that you can impact, craft a plan of positive action on paper, then take action on that plan.  This will empower you and enable you to let go of the worry. After all, worrying along does not accomplish anything positive.
2. Television.  We have become a couch potato society!  Many actually schedule their lives around their favorite television shows and spend less time doing more important activities like attending social events that could strengthen their relationships.
   • Record your favorite TV shows and watch them during your leisure time, or limit your TV intake to just a couple hours a week.  I would tell you to take it one step further – review the TV listing the week in advance and plan which ones you will watch. Scheduling them all at one time alerts you to the actual amount of time you are spending in front of the ‘boob tube’ and not with your friends, family and colleagues.
3. Video and Computer Games.  This is becoming such a time waster that gamers are actually developing what is called “gamers thumb,” a repetitive stress injury.  I personally have to admit I am a victim of this particular time waster.  I have a couple games (Guitar Hero World Tour, Call to Duty 4 and Unreal) that have stolen precious time from me.
   • Set time limits for yourself and your kids and help your kids understand why this is important.  One of things I did to curtail my own gaming time is make my game time a reward to getting specific things accomplished; Finish mowing, trimming and edging the yard, get a ½ hour of game time, clean the garage, more game time, etc.
4. Internet time. Are you constantly browsing the Internet, Facebook or Twitter? Are your kids hearing you say, “In a minute,” much too often when they ask you to spend time with them?
   • Keep your time on the Internet short and get involved in life. Instead of chatting with your online friends, spend more time with your real-life friends and family! (say this with a little bit of tongue in cheek as many of you reading this are my twitter friends) It’s all about balance.  I have days I spend a little bit of time on Twitter as I am working on other things and other days when I spend… er… um… more time online.
5. Telephone Chatter. Sure, we like to call old friends and chat, but do you chat on the phone all day long? If you do, you may find that you get hardly anything done all day.
   • Keep phone calls to a minimum or set a timer to go off after 15-20 minutes. This way you won’t feel deprived of a good conversation, but it won’t take over your whole day.
6. Traffic and Commuting. Some of us spend an enormous amount of time traveling to and from work. You can turn your commuting time into productive time!
   • Try carpooling or taking the bus, subway or train to work. You can use this time to read, plan your day, complete paperwork, or even relax your mind before a productive day.
   • If you drive, you can listen to inspiring and informative CDs or tapes to sharpen your mind each morning.  Of course I would say you should go to www.blogtalkradio.com/tracybrinkmann/ and download my episodes to your iPod or MP3 player to listen to.
7. Hobbies. Yes, there are people who are so obsessed with a hobby that they don’t make time to do anything else. They rush home from work to their hobby, even skipping dinner.
   • If this is you, schedule your hobby time so you’re not skipping meals, missing time with your family, or cutting into other productive time, again it is all about balance.
8. Daydreaming. It’s fun and healthy to dream about career ambitions or future aspirations, but when those dreams prevent you from taking action in your life, then you’re wasting time. Avoid getting bogged down with too much dreaming.
   • Turn your day dreams into real solid goals.  Make a list of your goals and aspirations, then, take action to make those dreams come true.  You could you could turn your daydreams into your own success story and literally start living your dreams.  Hear a little about that at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/TracyBrinkmann/2009/05/18/Write-Your-Own-Success-Story
     
9. Meetings. Although necessary, meetings can be one of the biggest time wasters of our workday. If everyone is wiped out from sitting in long meetings all day, productive time will be low.
   • If you’re in charge of meetings, set timeframes for them and stick to your stated time.
   • Limit the length of your meetings: keep needless chatter and agendas out of the meeting.
10. Planning. If you don’t take the time to plan your day, the important things you need to accomplish may not get done.
    • Write down your daily goals and tasks.
    • Schedule your day in the order of your top priorities.  I would suggest planning tomorrow, tonight.  This will be the best 10-15 minute investment you will make. 

There are many ways we waste our time in our everyday lives, but with a little effort, you can avoid time-wasting activities and turn that time into an advantage.

Think Successfully & Take Action! (And save time!)
Tracy

Today’s Top Motivated Coach & Author of Success Atlas Programs
http://SuccessAtlas.com

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