Wasting Time


To me, Drucker is the first and best thinker when it comes to effectiveness for knowledge workers.

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Many of the books, articles, productivity tools, and productivity apps you see these days are all in a way influenced by Drucker, who essentially invented the term personal effectiveness. What you will find next is a simple exercise from The Effective Executive which I modified slightly to make it easier that you can apply to become more effective yourself. I often hear people saying: Because if you want to manage your time better, you have to know where it goes first.

Your memory is not sufficient. If I asked you what you were doing exactly one week ago at this time, would you have an answer? Before I even have a real session with clients, I often ask them to keep an activity log for two weeks. The only thing that matters is that you want to keep a record for at least two weeks. Preferably, you want a whole month of recorded activities.

The Five Stages That All Genuine Experts Must Go Through

What would happen if you would stop doing them? If the answer is: But if your answer is: We all do activities that have ZERO return. I call those activities time-wasters. Know where your time goes. Identify the critical tasks from the trivial tasks in your life. And cut the trivial, time-wasting, tasks. If you want to be a super effective person, you regularly keep a log. Instead, do two stretches of two-three weeks a year.

Also, the additional benefit of such a simple exercise is that it forces you to think about your daily routine. Often, we start time-wasting activities, and they become habits. I host a free weekly personal development newsletter. Not a member yet?

Make one column with the hours in your day listed, and then make a wider column leaving space to the right of each hour. This test requires you to take a minute or two at the top of each hour to evaluate how you used the preceding hour. Consider how you spent the hour. During your evaluation period, consider what you completed over the previous hour.

Wasting Time Quotes

This can be anything from an exercise routine to studying for a test to spending the hour in front of the television. Be honest with yourself regarding how you spent the hour. This is the step from which the test draws its name. Summarize the hour and write down your evaluation in the righthand column. Write a few words about what you did with the hour in the righthand column and as well as your repeatability evaluation.

Acknowledge the parts of your day over which you have control. One of the drawbacks to the repeat test is that you can quickly fall into the habit of judging every hour by its overall utility. Remaining flexible is important in all aspects of your life, including your fun and relaxation time.

Strategy 2: Banish Attention-Hogs and Interruptions

Make sure you are well rested and minimize all distractions. Try to work in a productive environment such as a library.

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Some people find it helpful to use music or earplugs to block out all outside noise and stay focused. Not Helpful 2 Helpful Schedule your day on a planner.. You may find more time when you better organize your activities.

In Praise of Wasting Time

Also look for any tasks that can be grouped together or delayed if they are non essential. Be sure to change from sleep attire to what you normally wear when leaving for your work day. Putting shoes on can motivate you. I find that sticking my head in the shower for a quick hair wash and brushing my teeth is a good motivator to get up and about. Not Helpful 5 Helpful The measure of whether or not you've wasted time is in asking yourself: Not Helpful 1 Helpful Find a purpose in everything you do. Follow the instructions listed in the article above. Plan them out in your free time so you know exactly what you're going to do, and don't procrastinate.

Not Helpful 2 Helpful 9.

How To Stop Wasting Time and Improve Your Personal Effectiveness

The reason I research productivity is simple. I think that a productive life equals a happy life. Also, if you're more productive than average. Wasting Time may refer to: Timewasting · Idling · Goofing off · Procrastination · time sink. Contents. 1 As a proper name. Music. Albums; Songs.

Try putting your phone down and away from you. Also, try to keep yourself occupied by working on a hobby or by doing other things that keep you busy.

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Not Helpful 18 Helpful Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered. Already answered Not a question Bad question Other. Quick Summary To learn how to stop wasting time, start with minimizing all distractions by silencing your phone, doing your work on one device, and staying off the Internet.

Princess Chelsea - Wasting Time

Did this summary help you? Tips Take an honest stock of your productivity during long work hours. Sometimes the best thing you can do is stop to take a walk, eat a meal, or talk to a friend for a few minutes when you need to recharge after working hard. Get enough of sleep at night so that you are not tired and lazy all day. Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read , times. Did this article help you?

Cookies make wikiHow better. By continuing to use our site, you agree to our cookie policy. RA Rashash Ahmed Oct 27, All of the illustrations are simple and impressive. RK Rahul Karn Sep 23, By following given steps, I am managing my time and also completing my work effectively.