Time Management: Eliminate Time Killers to Gain More Hours Every Day

There are two types of time killers in everyone's life. Unless you deal with both, you'll lose productive time every single day and be a lot less effective than you could be.

Some time killers are more of less common to most people. This article will tell you more about how to deal with them.

Apart from that, there are also other time killers that are highly specific to each individual. They have to do with your habits, personality and working style.

To eliminate such time wasters, the first and most essential step is to be a keen observer of how you spend your time. Once you have a handle on what specific habits or situations are robbing you of your time, you'll be better positioned to deal with those issues. And deal with them you must, if you want to be more productive.

Before you do that, let's look at six common problems that waste mammoth amounts of time and what you can do about them.

Time killer #1: Phone calls

Someone said that the telephone may be the most misused of all modern conveniences! Phones turn out to be time wasters instead of time savers because they're incorrectly used. Where do we go wrong in using phones?

Do you make the mistake of not starting a phone conversation correctly? When you telephone someone, you should straightaway identify yourself and ask for the person you want to speak to. Instead, if you get into a "who is speaking" routine, you waste valuable time even before the conversation has begun.

The other big issue is how long you chat on the phone. Phone conversations are best kept brief. Going on and on over the phone not only wastes time, but may also prevent someone else from reaching one of you with an urgent message.

Now that mobile phones are ubiquitous, a whole new range of phone usage problems have sprung up. If you answer a mobile phone while you are in a meeting with someone is obviously an irritant to that person. Unfortunately, most people give the person calling more importance than the person they are with, which is extremely bad etiquette.

If you must have a lengthy conversation on your mobile phone, at least excuse yourself and leave so that the other person is not left hanging while you chat and giggle on the phone.

Time killer #2: Machines that don't work well

In many organizations, this is a bigger time killer than many people realize. Examples: A photocopier that takes a long time to produce the first copy, a desk drawer that gets stuck all the time, a door knob that won't open the door till you jiggle it several times and so on.

Until such machinery is either repaired or replaced, it will continue to waste time and lower productivity.

Time killer #3: The endless talkers

We all know people who are in love with their own voices. They lose all sense of time once they start talking! In the process, they can easily waste hours of your time as well.

The best way to deal with such folks is to avoid them in the first place. That's much better than requesting them to shut up! Ask your secretary to divert their calls, or use caller ID to do the same thing.

But make no mistake -- they are serious time killers and you need to deal with them appropriately.

Time killer #4: Traffic jams

This one's a huge problem in most cities. Calculate the amount of time you spend each day in traffic jams, multiply that by the number of work days in a year and prepare to be astonished at the colossal waste of your productive time.

One solution is to leave an hour early. Of course, that still kills your time, although it does help you avoid being late.

Where possible, walk to work, or take the metro part of the way and walk the rest of the distance. You'll probably get there faster. Plus, you'll be in better health too.

Another approach is to use the time you're caught in the traffic to do something constructive. Like listen to a CD on self development or on a professional topic. That way, at least you get something useful out of the time that would otherwise be lost.

Time killer #5: Queues

These days, you can use the internet or the telephone to eliminate much of the need to stand in queue, whether it's for booking tickets, doing a routine banking transaction, etc. Where possible, utilize those options, because they save you considerable time.

Time killer #6: Meetings

Meetings are supposed to boost productivity. Unfortunately, in most cases, they tend to lower it. This happens largely because of bad planning.

Take the time to prepare a crystal clear agenda for the meeting, including what outcomes you're looking for. Then communicate that to all meeting participants in advance. Just this one step will go a long way to converting meetings into productive activities instead of time killers.

Deal constructively with these time killers as well as others that are unique to your situation. And you'll discover that you're adding hours to your day and getting more done in less time than ever before.

Burt Carlson is a top corporate executive whose passion is helping people get more out of life by managing their time better. He has written articles on time management dealing with getting organized at work, developing sustained self motivation and many other related topics.

---

Focus on One Thing at a Time to Get the Job Done

All too often we can feel overwhelmed by the amount... Read More

Isn?t It Time For You?

Does it seem like there is never enough time in... Read More

Time Mastery vs. Time Management - Knowing the Difference

How much time do you spend on Mastering Your Time?... Read More

Priorities: Dont Dry Your Dishes

Do your dishes really need to be dried, or could... Read More

Seven Ways to Say, No!

A common remedy for improving your time management is to... Read More

How Do You Start Your Day

"Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces up, snow... Read More

Todays Overload: Tommorrow

Whatever providence has in store for us tomorrow is not... Read More

Vilfredo Paretos Principle: The 80-20 Rule: 80% of Results are Produced from 20% of Efforts

Vilfredo Pareto's Principle, or The "Pareto Principle," is more commonly... Read More

Work, Work, Work: Making Each Moment Count

Time, time, time. It seems there is never enough of... Read More

The Kaizen of Goal Setting

There is an old way of goal setting and a... Read More

Decrease Your Sleep, Increase Your Energy! And Have More Time In Your Day!

Many of the world's most driven and successful people sleep... Read More

Organize Your Time

Most people want to start a home-based business to make... Read More

More Time Wanted? Deal with Your Time-wasters Now!

Ever feel that you spend too much time shoring up... Read More

New Adventures - in Four Hours a Day

"Can you find four extra hours in your day?" a... Read More

Desktop Management Boosts Productivity

Many of us spend long hours at our desk. To... Read More

5 Result-Getting Time Management Tips

How often have you tried to manage your time in... Read More

Procrastination - Understanding & Overcoming it

Whenever I've worked on 'de-cluttering' my living or working space,... Read More

Oh, My Goodness! Where Has the Time Gone?

It's 6:00 a.m. I'm awake. I'm pumped! I'm ready to... Read More

Time and Life, Bit by Bit

Looking out through my picture window during a recent winter... Read More

5 Time Savers You (Probably) Havent Tried Yet

1. Do tasks less frequentlyClean house every 10 days rather... Read More

Your Most Important Appointment

An appointment is simply a mutual agreement to meet with... Read More

Time Management: Eliminate Time Killers to Gain More Hours Every Day

There are two types of time killers in everyone's life.... Read More

Effective Time Management Techniques

TIME MANAGEMENTWith the creation of the universe, God gave humankind... Read More

Time is Money?

Not 1 in 10 people can tell you where money... Read More

Delegate or Drown

Why waste your precious time working on tasks, which are... Read More

Pacing Yourself Through Change

OK...let's assume that you're truly motivated to change. Great. But... Read More

Creative Leadership; Inspirational Power ( Part 2 )

Time management is absolute crucial nowadays where business decisions have... Read More

It?s Not The Same Old Routine

We are constantly inundated with routine (often boring!) tasks around... Read More

Time Is Everything

Time is wealth;Time is health; Time is power; Time is... Read More

How to Make More Time For Your Life

Do you wish you could work less and play more?... Read More

Keeping YOUR Calendar Full

When do you want to make time for a networking... Read More

Keeping Time

What keeping time really means is...being on time!You know, there... Read More

Increasing Your ROI

All requests are not equal; all customers or clients are... Read More